


Captive Audience

by AngelOfDeath10



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drama, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Romance, Stockholm Syndrome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 14:42:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 31,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21076568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelOfDeath10/pseuds/AngelOfDeath10
Summary: After the first assault on Shinra HQ a captive manages to be taken, mistaken identity brings Tifa to Rufus, she wants to help her team but to what lengths must she go for her friends?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7 or its characters! If I did then I wouldn't need to write fanfiction, now would I?
> 
> Not my best Rufus/Tifa piece, and also one of my earliest. Decided to swallow my pride and repost.
> 
> Originally written in 2005.

"Hell."

Tifa waited with growing apprehension as above her and below her battles raged on to people she cared about. The torn feeling of wanting to back up Cloud coupled with the dislike of being in the flower girl's presence was enough to give her confidence to stay, but now that she thought more about it the idea seemed half baked. She was a fighter, not a killer, and being in the same room as the gruesomely murdered body of the ex-President of Shinra Inc. set her ill at ease. There were a few guards here and there as well, but they had been thrown to the walls, carelessly, by a power greater than they could have foreseen being asked to fight against. Blood was everywhere, so she rubbed her arms with cold hands and tried to find some other place for her mind to wander away from the carnage and the stink of death.

Even in a situation like this, she couldn't help but think about Cloud. Not those rosy happy thoughts that she had entertained when she had been cleaning up after a particularly rough night at the Seventh Heaven, but dark violent thoughts that involved twisting his arm behind his back and making him promise things. What those things were in general had to do with other women, but in specific she wanted him to swear never to get within a hundred yards of a certain helpless flower girl. These thoughts were tinged with bilious anger at the both of them, a sort of feeling of betrayal but with an undercurrent of expectation. She hadn't really expected him to wait, had she? To remember the promise? Obviously he had someone else he wanted to guard more, someone who had less of a capability for self preservation.

She looked around for a spot to sit down, but every surface was flecked with blood, and the smell alone was pretty objectionable underneath the rusty odor: old cologne and leather mixed together in a way that bit at her nose in an acidic manner. From the window behind the slumped figure with the sword in his back, the city was glowing. Smoke was still coming from the crushed ruins of Sector Seven. The panoramic view of the high tech top of the plates was strangely fascinating combined with the silhouette of the slain Shinra. Ignoring the horror of the moment, she walked over to the window, past the body, and glanced down. There was a strange feeling, from this height on the 70th floor, that everything down there wasn't real. The people rushing about were just dots and the toy life below was all some fabrication for the sake of a more obscure game. Maybe this is the sort of disconnection that allowed Shinra Inc. to take apart people's lives without mercy. . .

Or for a terrorist to blow up a reactor with little thought to possible loss of life.

The depressed turn of her thoughts distracted her, as she pressed her forehead against the glass. If she had been just looking out, as before, she would have seen in the reflection the guards in Shinra blue that crept up behind her. Noise wasn't an issue, as the alarms had been going non stop since Barrett and his party had been discovered in the lobby. Or at least that's what Tifa had suspected. The alarms were too late for the true danger, she had thought, since Sephiroth had come and gone. Thus, when she sensed the movement behind her, she was effectively too late to stop the inevitable.

In a twirl of hair, she caught the first punch. The guard looked shocked, then pained as she squeezed her fist in an attempt to crush his knuckles. However, the second guard, who she had only noticed upon catching the first guard's punch, landed a hit squarely on her cheek. The hit was hard, but not more than she could take except for the fact that it knocked her head against the glass and essentially scored two hits for the price of one. Probably concussed and already weary from previous battles, Tifa went down in a heap, dragging the one guard with her as her hand refused to release.

The kick the first guard had been nearly about to force upon her helpless form was stopped by the second guard.

"He said she wasn't to be harmed." The second guard said with some authority.

"Yeah, well, he also said she'd be helpless. That bitch nearly broke my hand!" The first guard massaged his hand gingerly, still smarting from Tifa's brief display of force.

The second guard shrugged. "The boss said she had uncanny abilities. Who knows, eh? Let's just get her on the helicopter before the boss is done up there. He said he wouldn't be long."

They hefted her onto the shoulder of the second guard, arms draped down his back, bottom in the air. The first guard stopped a moment to leer at the way her short black skirt pulled up. Before he could make a stupid comment the second guard hit his companion lightly to get him to move.

"Let's go, she ain't getting any lighter, you know."

"Yeah yeah. You're just mad cause I got a better view."

The second guard sighed and tried to balance the dead weight on his shoulder. "You're an idiot. Let's just get to the helicopter."

Above them and below them, battles raged on with no knowledge of what had passed on the 70th floor. Everyone assumed Tifa was safe with the other, but only Rufus was assured knowledge of her whereabouts once he disdainfully beheld the bound and gagged bundle in his helicopter. The spiky haired blond SOLDIER had been a joke to fight, and it was a miracle that this Cloud Strife had beaten Dark Nation let alone nearly captured this woman back from Shinra HQ. Rufus was not like his father, he wasn't a fool, and the girl would not get away a second time.

***

The first thing she did upon waking was try to kick whatever was nearest to her. This proved to be a rather hard and painful wall which did not give in any to her vicious strike with one bare foot. It felt like she had either jammed or broken something. Tifa swore in her mind at the reflexive end to the surprise attack to which she obviously lost, judging from her bound hands. She sat up and looked around the room, ignoring for now her throbbing toes.

There was a cot and four walls, the usual sort of cell, but instead of dingy grey or even the avocado color that seemed to magically attach itself to the interior of many institutional centers, the walls were a pristine white. The bed looked fresh with white sheets. There was even a little window with bars on it painted white, though she expected that beneath the paint they were a metal strong enough not to even think about trying to break. It looked more like a room in a hospital for the mentally deranged, and would have been exactly identical to one if the walls had been padded, but, as her foot attested to, they were not.

To compliment the room, as well as add insult to injury, she was in a white dress of some sort. It was short, just brushing the tops of her knees, and billowed everywhere but at her chest, which had the ability to put strain on most outfits, so she didn't let that concern her so much as the fact that someone undressed her. She'd place good odds on that person being male, and she hoped that someday she found out who it was, so she could pass her own Tifa style of judgment on them. No one was going to see her naked, if she could help it, except for Cloud. And his privileges had even been wavering when she last thought of him.

After hobbling over to the window, she had the grand realization that the whooshing noise she had been hearing was not in fact a vent for air, but the sea outside as it crashed against the bottom of a cliff. Any hopes of getting out through the window, with or without bars, seemed as dashed as she would be on those rocks if she managed to get out. Someone had really designed this place to be maddening.

Speaking of maddening, she noticed that her ear was itching. With her hands bound all she could do was scrunch up her face and shake her head around a bit. Tifa's hair flew about in disarray, and she saw all the knots at the end with dismay. The shaking she soon stopped, not because of the knots she was causing in her hair, but because the pain was really quite bad in her head after joggling her brains about like that. It felt like there was a large bump at the back of her head and a smaller one on her jaw. The explorations of her tongue turned up a raw spot where her cheek was healing from being knocked into her teeth. That bastard had punched her harder than she thought a Shinra soldier could hit. Maybe he just got lucky; crazier things had happened.

Combing her hands through her hair absently, catching on the many knots and only half heartedly trying to straighten it, Tifa paced about the room slowly in her partially limping fashion. She was alive, and that was a boon, but she was once again imprisoned and she wasn't sure what the status of the rest of her group was at the moment. All she could do was wait and attempt to think up some sort of escape plan until more information presented itself. Even if she was emotionally heated in some aspects of her life, she had a lot of patience. She had waited for years, trained for years, started and continued to run a successful bar, and now that she decided to take initiative to change the way power structures ran in the city she paid for it. At the moment she didn't know how dearly she was going to pay for her actions, but if this was the worst of it then she could stand it. Eventually she grew tired of pacing and sat on the bed, resting her bound hands on the taut sheets.

This was excruciatingly boring. Not even her apprehension over her future could keep her eyelids from drooping a little. The sounds outside were fairly soothing, the steady crash of waves and whistle of wind, and with her body hurting and still recovering from a stressful day of activity and fighting she was almost glad for the stimuli-free room. It was just when she was becoming lulled into a restive state and soon to enter sleep that the bolt outside the door was thrown back. Tifa assumed that's what the sound was, because metal had a distinctive clang to it, and nothing else would explain the noises coming from the door unless someone was prepping an enormous gun. Suddenly she wished she didn't have thoughts like that as she swallowed hard and stood up, chin high in the air, eyes proud.

When a distinctive looking man entered the room, Tifa tried not to let a sneer creep onto her face. That wouldn't help matters, but even her best efforts could not prevent it. Rufus Shinra was not the person she wanted to see most at the moment, and judging from his sharp assessment of her he didn't seem to be particularly thrilled with her either.

"It's funny," he said in that lazy cultured tone of his, "When one pictures an ancient master race, one thinks that their descendents would be a little more. . . fragile looking."

She held back a response by biting her tongue, one more injury to add to the rest. So what if she was not a spare, breakable little bit of fluff like that flower girl? Tifa was confident in her appearance and she refused to be degraded by the likes of a Shinra. What's more, now she knew that this was just a case of mistaken identities. If they had Aeris they would certainly know she wasn't anything special, and then Tifa herself would be in a world of trouble. Best to say nothing and play along.

"I thought you people had strange powers, why didn't you just heal up that nasty bump on your face?" He sounded falsely sympathetic. "I did so tell them to be careful, but my father instilled a rather 'brawn over brains' mentality in his organization. Unfortunate if sometimes useful."

"I suppose you're different." Her acidic remark flew past her thinly pressed lips.

The way he laughed was almost melodic, but there was an edge there that said he wasn't actually amused by her question. "I surpass my father in all ways I can think of. It was only a matter of time before I would have killed him myself. Sephiroth did me a favor."

Her lip curled a little, as she tried not to let her revulsion for this evil man spill over into vengeful violence. The reaction was not lost on Rufus.

"You're a spirited little thing, aren't you? That's just as well. If I had to worry about suicide attempts it would be a terrible inconvenience." He motioned to the doorway and large men in white button up coats came and held her down on the bed. She kicked and swore, but their greater numbers as well as her fatigue and the surprise of the maneuver overcame her. "Now hold still." Rufus ordered serenely over her shouts.

A warm light suffused her body as the healing spell restored her body even if it did not take away her feeling of fatigue. Her struggling became more vigorous.

"Tut tut, someone with as noble a bloodline as yours shouldn't use such language. People would think you had grown up in a slum." The barb might have hurt more if Tifa actually had grown up in a slum, like Aeris, but that he would even say such a thing to her still got the effect he had desired.

"I'll kill you!" She roared. "I'll break every bone in your body!"

This seemed to amuse Rufus more than it threatened him, and he was honestly laughing even as he put her to sleep with a hazy cloud of energy. It took a few tries, because of how hard she was fighting against him, but eventually she had to succumb. The orderlies laid her on her back on the bed before they left. Rufus brushed back her hair gently, examining her head for any other marks of combat. Her reposed face in sleep was fascinating to him, for some odd reason, and he stared a moment before pulling himself away.

His little Ancient was safe in his grasp, just where she should be.

***

Rufus sauntered through the Shinra Convalescent Home at his leisure, before returning to the comfortable suite of private rooms at the top level of the ten story building. Walking through the building was oddly depressing for him. Having never been truly incapacitated for any reason, to see so many crippled soldiers from his own private army was causing him to have a visceral reaction. He hated weakness, particularly disease, and it manifested in his disinterest in ill people and a slight fear of doctors. The only reason he was here with that girl now, the Ancient, was because experiments needed to be done and he didn't know anywhere else to safely bring her. There needed to be a place he could regroup, and the city was chaos at the moment. Eventually he would remove himself to Junon for some ceremonial passing of power. . . parades and meetings for hours is all that sounded like to him. Compared to the tedium of that, a little break here was fine.

He entered the elevator and pressed the button for Floor 10, along with the key code needed for access. Behind him, the glass revealed a long grassy hill that led down to some serene coastline. Beyond the foothills and some low mountain was the Golden Saucer. It lit up the mountains at night, he vaguely recalled, and made the Home here seem more urban than it really was. The property had been cheap by the ocean, and the atmosphere was oddly warm. The research and development laboratory beneath the Home was the real reason for this building's existence, however, rather than any true good will towards disabled soldiers. It was just like every Shinra action: villainy disguised as philanthropy.

Passing by the guards standing at attention, guns on shoulders, he thought about all the paperwork that needed to be changed now. At least he too was a Shinra, so that was convenient in some respects, but now he needed new business cards, a new seal, and new stationary for the entire company would probably needed to be made. Anything that had his father's name on it would have to be erased. There was almost a sort of desperate need for him to erase all memories of that man as fast as humanly possible. The logistics of it were already causing a frown to mar his handsome features and a slight pressure to develop around his temples. His blood pressure was already high from the stress of being in this hospital, and now he just didn't want to confront the magnitude of the changes he had to activate.

When one is suddenly ruler of most of the world, one has issues.

He fell down onto the couch, white suit crushing beneath him. It didn't matter if it wrinkled, just like it didn't matter if it stained. Rufus led an immaculate life, with everything in its place, and if his coat was ruined then he'd just have it replaced. The whole of his life was, and always had been, disposable. Break a toy? Buy a new one. Break a person? Hire a new one. It was all the same to him. But now he had a toy he couldn't break, one he had to be careful of. . . that girl.

Rufus didn't even remember her name, assuming she had said it. When he had dropped on that rooftop he could barely see around the bright search lights that scanned from the helicopter. The way that the rag tag group of terrorists had introduced themselves had seemed to fade into the background of his mind, but past the glare of the lights there had been the illuminated shine from the shirt the girl wore. When he told his soldiers to go after the girl, he was sure she had to be the one. Vaguely he remembered another girl there, a wan thing with a fat braid, but she had had no presence and was a side note in his recollection. Surely, the one who stood out so startlingly had to be the last Ancient. Her face, now that he had seen it so clearly, refused to erase itself from his mind's eye.

The scientists weren't prepared for her yet. They had requested all sorts of equipment that needed to be shipped from the nearly useless Midgar HQ. In addition, things were in disarray since Hojo. . . The man was a mess. Rufus didn't like him because he added an element of disorder to the whole of Shinra Inc. that Rufus felt they couldn't afford in the long run. Genius came with a price, but Shinra Inc. seemed to always have to foot Hojo's bills. It might be easier, more cost effective, to have him killed.

With a groan, Rufus rubbed at his eyes. He had been up for far too long, and the girl had been more hurt than he had suspected. It took a lot of concentration for him to aid her, but he didn't trust anyone else to do it. In general he just didn't trust anyone else. Who did he have to trust? The servants his father sent to keep him in check? The only ones who could be counted on were either inefficient but highly paid morons, like the Turks, or inefficient and highly paid psychotics, like Scarlet and Palmer. Why his father had ever commanded respect continued to astound Rufus, and now he had to deal with a legacy of leadership in the company he couldn't trust and didn't respect.

Things would be different now. No more misdirected energies. They would get everything running again, all of it back on track. Once this Sephiroth problem was taken care of Rufus could get back to what he was destined for: the hostile corporate takeover of the entire planet and all its inhabitants. He would bring order to all of them, whether people wanted it or not. His paradise would become real.

. . . and somehow that girl in the basement levels was the key.

***

Tifa did another pushup, panting softly as her sore muscles screamed in protest. She had nothing else to do all day except exercises and forms. People brought her food. People took away her bedpan. The little buzzing bees in this hive didn't seem to have a pattern they just knew when she needed things. She didn't even have to ask. It was downright creepy. The only real downside was that it had been two days, and she still hadn't gotten a bath. Her whole body was grimy and she was getting pretty angry about it. They could probably bring her a bathtub, but there must be facilities in this weird place that accommodated showers or something. Hell, they could drag her to the kitchen and she would bathe in a pot if it came down to it, so long as she didn't have to see her scraggly strands of hair anymore which were beginning to remind her of dreadlocks more than their normal silken but disarrayed locks.

What would two days have brought her party? They would have noticed surely that she was M.I.A.; she had faith enough for that obvious step. Now whether they would have gone back. . . that was another story. She was conflicted about how people would choose to address the problem of her absence. They could have gone back, found nothing, continued on. . . or they could have assumed she'd find them and things would be ok. In either case, they wouldn't be any closer to knowing where she really was, and she was most likely on her own until she was released or escaped.

To her greatest dismay she found that she was missing human company more than anything else. Tifa had always been a people person, surrounded by friends, would be admirers, bar customers, and later fellow members of AVALANCHE. There had been no time in her life when she had been truly alone, even if she thought she had felt alone without the all important presence of Cloud. Now, facing the fact that the flower girl was the most sought after person on the planet, she was filled with a tearing sense of loneliness, of displacement, and she struggled against it as she knew how best to: fighting.

Another hundred pushups should keep her body busy and her mind out of trouble.

"Well, aren't you industrious. Using your time for training? You know you're just making it all the easier for the scientists to make a case for rigorous physical tests."

The voice caused her to grind her teeth together as she pushed herself all the way off of the ground and dusted her hands together to get the grit off.

"Why, President Shinra, don't you have some other rock you can crawl under right now?"

Rufus smiled again. This girl really was so much more entertaining than anything else in this building. He hadn't been able to stay away any longer. "Please, call me Mr. Shinra. President sounds so. . . cold."

"What if I call you Rufus?"

"I didn't realize we were on such intimate terms already."

The arch of his eyebrow made Tifa's mouth pucker as she crossed her arms defensively. "Just get to the point. Why are you here?" Perversely, she was enjoying this, just for the time spent using her voice in conversation with another human being.

"Seeing as we're currently having some transportation issues, and you won't be needed by the doctors for some time, I thought I would offer you a small deal." He gave her a smile, the thin one he used while negotiating with smaller corporations when he came in and snapped up all of their assets. "You see, I'm rather curious myself about what you might know, and in exchange for your painless imparting of information. . ." he paused.

"Well?" Tifa said, taking the bait and betraying her interest.

"Why, I would update your living arrangements. I can see you clearly need to have a bath and a change of clothes." He watched the hurt vanity in her eyes turn to anger in a flash of cinnamon fire. "And seeing as you have nothing to get out of denying me this boon except continued smelly boredom, I thought you might actually welcome this. Up until now I assumed you would spit in my face. Did time provide enough incentive?"

There was a minute while Rufus saw the cogs turn in Tifa's head. She tapped her foot lightly and folded her arms the other way before responding finally. "How do you know you can trust what I tell you?"

Suddenly, Rufus felt off balance in this conversation. He came offering insults and bribes, and she returned it with a question about her own integrity? Who thought this way? Certainly no one he had ever known before.

"I'll simply trust you, Miss. . ." the pause continued for some time.

At this point, Tifa figured it didn't matter. If she made up a name, she would probably forget it. Lying was just not something she did easily or well. Giving her last name was too easily traceable, and she absolutely refused to use the flower girl's name.

"Tifa. Just Tifa."

Mockingly, Rufus offered her a polite bow. "Very well, Tifa, do you accept my offer?"

_Deals with the devil_, she sighed in her head. "This once. Don't expect I'll always be this accommodating in the future."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, I assure you. You shall be fetched shortly and escorted to the proper facilities. In exactly two hours I will speak with you again. Farewell, Tifa." He waved and she was soon surrounded by the large orderlies who attempt to grab her by the elbows and forcibly escort her past a smirking Rufus.

She struggled out of their grasp as he watched them go by, insisting that she could walk without such measures. Tifa was doing this somewhat voluntarily after all, she was a woman of her word and if she was going to offer him answers, then she would do so to the best of her ability. Maybe it wouldn't be wholehearted, but it would be honest. In general, Tifa knew so little about this Ancients mess that she doubted Shinra could get anything out of her even with his clever manipulations. All she wanted out of this was a bath and a change of clothes; the talking with Shinra was simply a necessary evil on the path to cleanliness.

It was embarrassing to be watched as she bathed, but at least it was a matronly looking nurse with permanent frown lines rather than one of the bulky male orderlies. Tifa didn't have any real shame in exposing her body, but the constant radiating disapproval from the woman was giving her a sort of reactionary shame out of empathy. Towards the end of her ablutions, Tifa completely forgot her guard and just enjoyed the fact that she was in her second tub of warm water (having left behind the first dirty one after fifteen minutes of scrubbing off the surface grime). Her shriveled pink fingers and toes brought her new amusement, even if the puckered skin wasn't her favorite effect of a thorough soaking.

"One hour. It is over. Get out now." The woman spoke, breaking Tifa's wandering reveries about how nice it was to be clean and warm. A small, rough towel was thrust in her direction and Tifa took it graciously despite her urge to toss it back with a flippant word or two. Putting on clothes wet did not sound like a worthy sacrifice to make a bad tempered person flare up. As it turned out, she might as well have done what she liked since the towel did little else than move the water around on her body. Doubly discouraging was the fact that all that awaited her was another boring white gown, the same knee length and drab design that she had tolerated for the past couple days. At least it was a new one.

She pulled her wet hair out the back after slipping the gown on. "Probably burned the old one," she mumbled to herself.

"What was that?" This woman was by far too severe to be a nurse. Then again, considering where she was held, maybe she had some sort of stigma attached to her that she was unaware of. Having people dislike her before they even met her was not something she was used to yet, outside of battle, and she resisted the urge to respond defensively.

"Nothing. Take me to where I'm supposed to go, I guess." She shrugged and then rang out some more water from the tip of her tangled but clean hair onto the tile floor.

"You are not in a position to make demands. You shall wait in the next room over until you are fetched." The smirk on the woman's face convinced Tifa that by 'room' she meant 'cell' and a quick walk through a hallway proved her right. The only bonus to being left alone was that she could attempt to groom herself without being observed. Strangely, combing her hair and stretching out her warmed muscles were far more personal activities to her than the bathing had been. Since she was higher up in this complex now, she was actually at a level where there were a few windows for decoration. They still had bars, but these windows let in more sunlight and Tifa laid herself out in a beam of sunshine and made the best of the situation as she killed an hour.

By the time more orderlies entered the room to almost literally drag her to the next destination, Tifa had almost been enjoying herself. Comparatively, of course, to her regular life, this was as horrible as she had ever feared: trapped, inactive, without friends, and soon to be prodded and experimented on. There was always the possibility of telling the truth, but she had a feeling she wouldn't need to say anything before her identity was exposed on its own. As soon as a person who actually knew the flower girl saw her they would realize that Tifa was no Ancient. In the mean time she would buy her friends—buy Cloud—the time they needed to get just that much further with whatever it was they were doing. Days of absence and isolation were making her feel distant, perhaps this close encounter with Shinra would bring back that old flare of fire and hate that provided some of her drive.

Her growing loss of faith in Cloud was taking its toll on her energy, too, in ways she didn't want to examine just yet. He was going on a date. . . but not with her. . . something suspiciously like tears began to burn at the corners of her eyes but she looked at the ceiling and watched the fluorescent lights pass by rather like the marks on a road instead. Did she expect him to wait for her like she had for him? What a silly dreamer she was. The orderlies had started dragging her more slowly, she noted by the larger time lapse in between the ceiling lights, and then they stopped entirely. Tifa looked forward again at an elevator. Lights above it lit up and only she looked up to watch the numbers descend down to their level.

The doors opened to reveal Rufus, smiling in an infuriating manner, and extending his hand to her to join him in the small elevator. When she hesitated, one of the orderlies pushed her and Rufus was forced to catch her rather than gallantly escort her into the little room. Orderlies saluted behind Tifa and exited while the doors closed on her and Rufus, who had already pushed in a code to that caused the elevator to lurch up.

"They really should have found you something better to wear. Would you like me to find you something more fetching?"

Tifa had actually been somewhat engrossed by the view from the elevator, but snapped her attention back to her surroundings easily. The price for being clean had been an agreement to talk to him, and she felt like stating a few unsolicited opinions.

"What part of my soul would I be trading away for it?"

"You wound me, Tifa, I thought I was being a good guy here."

"If you were a good guy, you wouldn't be keeping me here for medical experiments Mr. Shinra." The way she saw him look at her, mirrored in the glass, made her want to create more distance between them. She knew that look for it seemed to be universal to men with wandering eyes and, sometimes, wandering hands.

He clicked his tongue. "What happened to 'Rufus'? You should choose one or the other, you know."

"If that's the only choice I get to make here, then I'll change my mind as much as I like."

Rufus couldn't help but enjoy her answers. Playing with this new toy was turning out to be as delightful as he'd feared. He wasn't going to get anything done today if he allowed himself the luxury of speaking with her too long. Best to narrow down his questions, set a time limit, and then send her off just as he'd been intending. The door opened and he waited for her to exit first before following and striding ahead into the large open room.

When he did not sense her behind him, he turned to find her looking a bit wild and scared. The tangled hair, the wide eyes, and the pursed mouth all contributed to the image, but when she had gotten her bearings she stiffly walked into the room and sat down on the couch. Her back straight, she seemed to be concentrating very hard on a point on the back of her hand which at the moment was clenched into a fist in her lap.

"Would you like a drink?" Rufus asked her as he crossed the room and discarded his standard white coat onto a stool by the small bar's counter. The sun had been pouring into the room for some time, making it quite warm. He knew that this place, being his own apartment, was a site that would put her at further disadvantage since he was perfectly comfortable here. Even if he didn't plan on imbibing anything alcoholic, it would be useful if the girl did. While her nervousness was obvious, Rufus would have given quite a lot to know what was going through her head.

"No." She didn't soften her response, since at the moment all she could do was panic. Why did she think she could just waltz up here and bluff her way through a conversation with Shinra? She should have spent all that time she had coming up with a story, an identity, something clever to mislead Shinra and help Cloud and the rest. Why was she so bad at strategy?

"I'm going to have one if you don't mind." His false courtesy, as if she were a guest and not a prisoner, was giving her that strange pressure in her arms. It was an itching desire to stand up and blast him into the ground with her bare knuckles. They were alone, she just might be able to do it. . .

Then she noted, as he sat down, the unconscious grace and efficiency with which he moved. The muscles on his arms stood out clearly even if they were not bulky, and thus reminding her of Cloud. People had often underestimated him because he looked smaller wirier than the typical SOLDIER, but after fighting with him Tifa knew the truth of his power. Tifa was inclined to think that perhaps Rufus was no pushover after all, although now that she had drawn the parallel to Cloud she felt discomforted even more in Rufus' presence.

"Is there something wrong?" Rufus asked her as his dark blue eyes met hers, not a far enough cry from the Mako blue she had been picturing to reassure her.

Instead, she chose gruffness to hide her disquiet. "What a stupid question." He chuckled, and she wished the sound were less condescending. She was not some badly behaved child. "Were you going to ask me something real, or were you just going to make fun of me for the rest of the day?"

"Straight to business," normally he liked that kind of attitude, but even with his own self-imposed limitations he wanted to drag this out a least a little more. "I don't suppose you'd know where your companions are."

"Ha. Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you."

"Then in lieu of that you can tell me about each of them."

Tifa paused. She thought he was going to ask about what being an Ancient was like. That was something she knew little about, but when it came to Barrett, or Cloud. . .

"What do you want to know, exactly?"

Rufus' eyes sparkled with something akin to glee. "Forcing specifics? Very well. Tell me about the one that I fought, the blond one."

"What do you know about him, Shinra?"

"Aren't you the one who's supposed to be answering questions?"

"Didn't your mother tell you it's impolite to answer a question with a question?"

Rufus took a long sip from his drink while Tifa bristled and crossed her arms over her chest. Now that she was agitated she was just going to be difficult for the sake of it. Maybe a more direct approach would be more effective if he didn't want this session to be a waste of his time, no matter how internally amused he was by it.

"Very well, Tifa. I'll tell you what I know and I'll show you where you can fill in the blanks." He leaned forward in his chair next to the couch, making sure to grab her eyes with his own. "I know that you all work for AVALANCHE, headed by Barret Wallace, who has a gun for an arm and a bad temper." Tifa seemed to go very still at this. "We collected only that much information before he managed to make good on his potential and explode a healthy portion of Midgar. Up until then he had only been labeled a 'minor threat' and one worthy of little notice. Am I right so far?"

"Yes." She responded tightly, muscles so tense now that they were trying to cramp in places.

Rufus saw the way her jaw and fists were flexing and knew he had found a good tactic. "Nothing comes to mind about the skinny girl with the braid, as well as the dog I saw on the rooftop. I assume a fellow experiment."

"You find this all so funny don't you?"

He continued. "And then there was the SOLDIER. Cloud Strife, didn't he say his name was? Not one that leaps to mind, but then again I don't tend to concern myself with the names of the military branch. They call me 'sir', and I give them orders and that's all that matters."

"Looks like you have everything figured out then. You don't need me here anymore."

Tifa's petulance was beginning to try even Rufus' patience. It was starting to be less amusing and more irritating. "If you don't cooperate with me a little more wholeheartedly, Tifa, then I'm going to have to use more forceful measures."

"Like what? Threaten to kill more people? Destroy a few lives just to make me give you information that you have already?"

She was getting righteous as well as defensive. He shouldn't have gotten hasty. He had one last set of tactics. While doing this the short way would have been the most efficient, he thought that this last resort would probably end up being more pleasant.

"We started out wrong. Shall we try again?" He stood up and left, walking into the elevator and then out again. Tifa watched his progress with narrowed eyes, trying to understand what exactly he was trying to pull on her. When he walked in this time, a startlingly genuine smile on his face, she wasn't sure what to do. "Why, Tifa, isn't this a pleasure. I'm sorry I'm late, but you know the demands on my time as the new President are just massive. In addition for arranging a proper burial for my late father, I have to see everyone through a smooth transition. But I won't burden you with the details. Tell me, are you being treated well during your stay here? Can you hand me my drink?"

It was as if she wasn't sure where she was for a moment once she handed him his glass. Tifa was transported back to her bar, greeting friendly patrons and getting along in the world. "I've experienced worse. You make the best of it." Her sense of reality was still reeling. The way her shoulders slumped as she relaxed and smiled helped her muscles relieve some tension.

"Honestly, tell me how people have been treating you. I ought to know these things."

"I. . . uh. . ." She looked down at the white fabric beneath her and remembered where she was and how the person with the wide grin leaning on the back of the couch was certainly no harmless bar regular. "Stop that!"

"Stop what? I thought we were having a friendly conversation. There can't be anything wrong with that, right?" The way he laughed and swept a hand through his hair as if he was slightly nervous continued to set her tension high. She knew he was acting, damn it!

"You can't be so stupid as to think that you can just waltz back in here and pretend like history erased itself. I'm still me and you're you, and I'm not telling you anything."

Rufus closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You're on edge, it seems. I think that we should continue our conversation later, when you've had some time to think about things." He offered her a hand to get up. "Shall I walk you back?"

She stood up from the couch, face set into a deep frown, and ignored the proffered hand. "Just call your goons already, then."

The way he tilted his head she could almost believe he was confused by her behavior. Without saying another word to one another they both stepped into the elevator, and then walked back to the cell which she had been occupying. Every so often she would steal a glance at her transformed host, but he was all congeniality in her direction and she turned away quickly. As hard as his sudden personality shift was to take at face value, it was unsettling for her image of him. It's easy to hate someone who treats you badly. . .

They reached her cell and she stepped inside. He didn't cross the threshold, but he did clear his throat to get her attention. "I hope you'll be joining me for dinner this evening. Usually I eat alone, but I think that perhaps we can start over in a better manner if there is something constructive in front of us."

"I guess. . . it isn't like I really have a choice, do I?"

"Oh no, if you promise me you will have dinner with me this evening, then that would please me. If not, you won't have to hear from me until tomorrow. I think that the first few doctors get in this evening. . ."

Apparently, even acting like a nice person couldn't hide his nature. The threat wasn't even veiled. She could have dinner with him or she could go through preliminary tests. She didn't want to be found out just yet.

"I promise I'll have dinner with you." The dry tone to her voice seemed to slide past him as he gave her a slight nod.

"Then I shall see you later, Tifa." He left, closing the door behind him. She waited for the sound of the bolt sliding home, but it didn't come.

Tifa ground her teeth together as she continued to wait for the sound of the bolt. That bastard! He wasn't even going to lock her in anymore? Didn't he realize that if he was so trusting then she could walk right out of here and. . . no, that wasn't right. There were a couple problems with that picture. The first problem was all of the orderlies, and the second problem was her promise to have dinner with him. She would chance fighting her way through, but she couldn't bring herself to break a promise. Even if her guilty conscience could stand the whipping, there was something so counter to her being about not being a creature of integrity. Damn that man.

The injury wasn't added to insult until an hour or so later when an orderly brought her something to wear for dinner. That's when she began to really loathe Rufus again. It was a good feeling. The anger had begun to fade in the dull confines of her cell, and to have it regenerate so quickly spoke well of her ability to withstand these pathetic attempts to get on her good side. She'd show him.


	2. Chapter 2

"You think you can just send something like this to me and I'll. . . hello." The way her eyes went large when she was surprised was quite fetching, Rufus thought to himself.

Rufus rose from the table, as did the other two men sitting there with him whom Tifa hadn't seen until a sentence into her prepared rant. Good thing she hadn't gotten to the swearing part yet. It wasn't that she felt bad about abusing him in front of other people, but her own sense of social propriety made her falter a little. She had never been in what could be termed "polite" society, and these men held themselves with an air of authority that was daunting for long enough to make her think. However, these men looked embarrassed and held their eyes down. Mortified, she realized she was wearing the short hospital gown and nothing else. Her shapely front and lean legs were practically on display.

"Why Tifa, I know you get rushed sometimes, but perhaps you should repair to the bathroom before you return. I explained to Mr. Jancy and Mr. Trelebor that I was visiting this place accompanied, and they are eager to know more about you." The way sly amusement slid through his words made Tifa's wounded pride bristle.

She puckered her lips and forced a smile as she marched towards the door in the direction Rufus had indicated. There were two, but she chose the closest one and it turned out to be the correct option. Everything in the bathroom was chrome and black. It was like she had been swallowed into a black hole, and she desperately didn't want to stay there. The shiny dark gold material in her hands mocked her. She should march right back out there and yell at him, but instead she found herself changing and listening at the door for any indication that this was just another set up to try her patience.

". . . assume that the arrangements have been made." Rufus's voice. Tifa scowled without thinking about it.

"Yes, Mr. Shinra, and this is the last of the paperwork to make your position official. Can we expect you in Junon in the next few days?" It was a whispery voice and Tifa strained to hear it.

Rufus laughed, but there wasn't any cheer to it. "I have other matters to attend to before I return to Junon. Ready the parade for a week from today."

The other voice interjected, gravelly, irritated. "I must insist, that would not be very economical. We already lost a great deal of money from all the. . . incidents. . . in Midgar. Further delay will only drive our financial situation into further disrepair."

"I'm well aware of the consequences, and I'm not without my reasons Jancy."

"I'm not meaning to be disrespectful, President Shinra, but as your accountant I must insist that a week break will greatly damage the company. And with all the important projects. . ."

"I agree with Jancy," It was the whispery voice again. Tifa paused in mid pull to straighten the dress around her body so she could hear. "Not just for reasons of money, but right now there is a lot of fear in the Shinra employees. Word of how the last President died as well as the general rumors that had been going around about Sephiroth. . ."

There was a bang, as if someone had hit the table with a fair amount of force. "Then I will make a statement. I shall have my week and you shall not tell me how to run my own company. I don't care that you were my father's lawyer. I asked you here because I thought you could help me. If you're just going to make trouble for me, then maybe I should find someone who will fix problems instead of complaining about them."

"I'm sorry, President, we won't question your reasoning. But we are advisors, and consider that our advice." They backed down too quickly. If it had been Tifa in the room then she would have told him that it was no way to run a business and make him get back to work. This was a poor time to take a vacation. Why, she had never once taken more than a day off in her work at the Seventh Heaven, and her hard work had paid off in that it was the most successful business in her sector.

Until it had been hopelessly crushed. Moving on. . .

Time to go out and face the firing squad. She was reasonably sure that this was not just a set up to corner her. But that he would invite her to a real dinner with important Shinra employees confused her more than she was willing to admit to. What game was he playing now? She realized with some horror that the comb she had been struggling to use to make her hair neater had to be his. It dropped to the ground with a clatter and she tried not to touch anything else. Tifa washed her hands and walked out of the bathroom with brisk steps. A bathroom was too personal, like a bedroom, and she didn't want to be surrounded by Rufus' presence so completely.

The men rose again as she entered and sat down after she did. Someone, a nurse, came in and left salad in front of them all. Tifa barely noticed as she attempted to field questions.

"How did you come to be here?" Jancy smiled at her and she tried to pretend it wasn't the low dip in the neckline that prompted it.

"I was kidnapped."

"I didn't realize Mr. Shinra was such a romantic." He didn't grasp that her usage of the word was not positive and happened to be very literal.

Rufus stabbed at his salad. "I doubt Tifa would use that term."

He watched while Tifa turned from red to purple and then back to red. When she was in the bathroom, distracted by other thoughts, she hadn't fully grasped what her part in this situation must look like. As it was, Tifa understood too well. She was his floozy! They hadn't asked her last name because there was no need, most likely. She was his conquest of the month, or whatever, and she was pissed about it.

Rufus, seeming to sense her near to explosion, reached across the table to squeeze her hand. It was, shockingly, painful and she looked up at him suddenly. _Don't make a scene or you'll pay_, said his half smile coupled with the pain in her hand.

"That's right. There are a lot of words I'd use to describe Rufus, but not that one. He's cold and bastardly to the core." Even after that, he let go of her hand. Tifa hadn't said anything telling, really, or untrue. She speared herself some greens and resolutely chewed to keep from having to offer any more bitter words.

"She knows me so well. Can't have my image suffering." Rufus smirked at the two men who laughed nervously. If the last president had been unstable, he had also been a fool. Rufus was far too smart for them to humor him without him knowing, and unstable enough to react viciously if he was displeased by it.

The rest of the supper passed without incident. Tifa kept her mouth full and Rufus and the two advisors talked business the rest of the meal. It was intensely boring, but at least the food was good. The dress, however, was uncomfortable. She couldn't slouch and chance gaping out the front, but when she sat up straight the skirt, which was slit, pulled back in her lap to expose more thigh under her napkin. Attempting to stay covered for the whole meal was the only challenge that occupied her. In the end it was the slit under the napkin that ended up being the loser. She preferred to keep her feminine mystery rather than spill her assets into the berry sorbet.

"Now, gentlemen, if you would excuse me, Tifa and I have some business of our own to discuss." All the men rose when she did and they made their apologetic final statements to her before clearing out. Tifa ground her teeth as she thought of how Rufus' comment must have sounded to those men.

She numbly watched them walk out before confronting Rufus about this little episode.

"What the hell was. . ."

"Did you enjoy the dinner?" He looked squarely into her eyes and she felt a chill. Something about the meeting with his accountant and lawyer had displeased him, and she would rather he didn't have that killing glint in his eye.

She pushed her hair forward in an attempt to conceal more of her front from the deep vee that felt like it was opening halfway to her bellybutton. An exaggeration, but she still felt exposed to his glare and therefore at a disadvantage. "What's wrong with you? Aren't you going to grill me for answers now?"

"I wasn't planning on it. I had simply thought your presence would make this dinner meeting less intolerable. Hence the dress, as if it were just the two of us I wouldn't care if you had shown up in that hideous hospital gown." Casually, he wandered away from the dining area and back to the couch. Outside it was cloudy; there were no stars to view.

"So why did I have to pretend to be your bimbo?"

There was silence from the other side of the room, and eventually she wandered over to confront him. Rufus wasn't getting away with this sort of manipulative crap. He wasn't the only one here who could ask questions. Whether she would get answers. . .

"Go back to your room."

"You mean my cell."

He didn't even flinch. "Your cell, if you so insist. I'll come get you tomorrow for our discussion. My head hurts and I don't wish to spar with you at the moment." The wave he gave brought orderlies seemingly out of nowhere. Really, they had been waiting by the elevator doors this whole time and she had put them out of her mind. At least when they escorted her down this time it was not forcible and she got to set the pace.

Tifa tried to remember the things that had been said during dinner and drew a blank. Even her opportunity at espionage had been a wash. She just didn't think in a devious enough manner. Was there anything wrong with wanting straightforward questions and answers? It seemed easy enough. She wanted to know what was going on with her interrogation and Rufus kept sending her away or confusing her. Well, if he was trying to spin her around until she admitted something, it wasn't going to work. That was a certainty in her mind and she walked into her room and sat on her bed without even waiting for the bolt to lock.

The new President Shinra might just be under a lot of pressure. That could explain away some of his erratic actions. After all, the list of things they had rundown over dinner had been horrifyingly comprehensive and Rufus had made what sounded like informed decisions about all of them. He knew his company inside and out, and to keep track of half the world like that could drive anyone a little batty. She didn't want to give him any benefit of the doubt, but her Seventh Heaven had been the hardest job she's ever had. Harder than being a terrorist, even. To manage even down to the local level every branch of Shinra must take a powerfully directed and organized mind.

As Tifa leaned back against the wall next to her rock hard bed she thought back to the beginning of the night's conversation, where Rufus had insisted on having a vacation. If he was under a lot of stress, even cracking under the pressure of taking on his father's responsibilities, then taking a vacation would be important. Maybe she fit into this vacation somehow, as a form of amusement.

While it sounded galling, she could use this to her advantage. Tifa knew she was a likeable person, when she wanted to be, and men had always responded particularly well to her. She could attempt to be more than a diversion to him. If she could become human to him then maybe she could make him think twice about those experiments. Keeping her identity secret just that much longer would keep the heat off of Cloud. She would do it for Cloud. It felt like it was all she could do for him. Like a parting gift.

Guiltily, she stopped running her hands over the fine material of her dress. It was satiny and soft and far more expensive looking than anything she had ever bought for herself excluding weaponry. It would have been a nice gift if it had come from someone she didn't hate so much. Then the realization hit that she wouldn't be able to expect a gift from Cloud now or any other time in the future if he was really going out with. . . that girl.

The dress felt even more decadent and valuable to her now. Tifa wished she had her ugly cotton hospital gown back.

***

Rufus tried to shove all thoughts of Tifa from his mind. What had seemed like a good idea, a funny way to aggravate everyone around him for his own amusement, had turned into something serious and far more disturbing the second Tifa had stepped out of the bathroom in the gold gown he had had bought at the Gold Saucer and flown over. Her malevolent eyes had been on him the whole meal whenever she wasn't eating and she hadn't seen the way that the other two men in her presence had been looking at her. Rufus hadn't missed it. Their eyes, hungry for something they shouldn't have wanted, changed his mind to go from outing her as the Ancient thought to be lost and watching everyone in the room squirm to placing her firmly under his protection as his doxy. The lawyer and the accountant couldn't help but glance her over because she was a beautiful woman in a slinky dress, but Rufus found that he was just as susceptible to her too and that hadn't been part of the plan.

And the girl had been oblivious. Rufus knew he was attractive. He'd like to think that if he wasn't as rich and powerful as he was that women would still flock to him as they did at every formal gathering. Tonight he had been at his best, a commander among influential men, making decisions that would effect people across every continent. . . and she had been more interested in the prime cut of beef on her plate. That rankled more than a little. In fact, it had rankled so much that he couldn't even collect himself enough to talk to her civilly after dinner.

He mused to himself until he walked into his bathroom and found his comb on the floor and her discarded white gown. Tomorrow, and for the rest of his vacation, he was going to blow away her expectations to such a degree that she was going to voluntarily tell him everything about herself and what secrets she held in her blood. He threw the gown in a cupboard beside the shower and forced himself to forget about her until the next day. In the mirror, he confronted flushed cheeks and knew that his emotions were trying to get the better of him. This was going to be a tricky project if he was going to stay totally uninvolved. That form of hers alone invited distraction.

After splashing some water on his face and schooling his features into disturbing blandness, he walked out with the intention of getting her more clothing. He would not be able to make any progress with the distraction of the gold dress mocking his efforts. There was no way he was going to make the same mistake twice.

***

When Tifa awoke the next morning there were more clothes ready for her. The gold dress was almost hopelessly wrinkled from her sleeping in it so she was glad for the change of clothes. Plain pants, a plain shirt. . . already her suspicion grew. These were sensible clothes, items that she would not be upset at wearing in the least, and it seemed out of place that he would be trying to be nice to her. It took some time for her groggy mind to remember that she had to encounter him now as if he were not her enemy.

She was still telling herself that as she finished buttoning her pants and turned to find Rufus leaning to one side in the door with his arms crossed. Tifa felt the first flush of anger as she beheld his sleepy smile.

"How long were you watching me? Why didn't I hear you?" Seriously, when he did things like this it was hard to not think of him as an enemy—someone she would not mind punching until his face resembled ground meat.

Rufus tossed her a hairbrush, new, with good metal bristles that wouldn't break. "Long enough. Ready for breakfast?" This time the smile showed his teeth, and Tifa felt her heart speed up a little as she noticed how today his hair was not slicked back but fell soft and messy around his face. Instead of the usual turtleneck he wore a black button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and of course those impractical white pants. Only someone who didn't do real work for a living could wear white clothes. Tifa tried to be scornful to stop herself from staring.

"Of course I'm ready. What else am I going to do?" She put more strength into those words than she meant to. Be nice, remember? Tifa ran the brush through her hair a few times and then held it up with a sorry attempt at a gracious smile on her face. "Thanks."

"Anything for you, Tifa." His moods were enigmatic. Damn the man, but he seemed to change his attitude every few seconds when she was around. "Shall we?"

She tossed the brush on the bed and strode out behind him. There were no guards around them, and Tifa wondered if, in addition to not locking her cell, he was also not posting guards around her cell either. Maybe the experiments had already begun. Tifa held back the surge of anger at the thought and followed Rufus as he told her about the facility and what it did. _Be his friend, Tifa_, she reminded herself.

". . . and while I'll admit we do have modest research and development labs in the basement levels, largely this facility works as a Convalescent Home for those injured permanently from the Shinra company and its subsidiaries."

"Who pays for all of this?"

"Well, the employees pay a modest sum for insurance but that covers barely a fourth of the expenses for this place. It's effectively a free service. A sort of social service."

Tifa tried not to be cynical, and failed. "And I suppose this makes everything else ok."

"Pardon?"

"All the hostile takeovers, the destruction of free trade and general freedom of choice and lifestyle for everyone on the planet. Not to mention the pollution. . ."

Rufus stopped, frown etched deeply into his face. The eyes which had been laughing now flashed angry blue. For a moment he again reminded Tifa of Cloud, and then he opened his mouth. "Who pays most of the people on this planet? Who provides aid during disasters? Who established vast communication networks and modernizations to make life more convenient for the majority of people everywhere? Order has a price, Tifa. We are the government. We're better, we do everything they should do and we still turn a profit." He ended with a hiss and Tifa knew that she had hit a sore topic with him.

In some ways it hadn't occurred to her before that the villains she fought against had as strong a set of ideals as she did. When she had blown up reactors it seemed as if it was the only right way, but there were other ways to see everything. Rufus was trying to bring order? To give people jobs? To raise the quality of life? In his mind, he was the hero. A sobering thought when she hadn't even had food yet today and her stomach caused her more pain than her smarting sense of reality. She needed to amend this breach in relations and get back on track with her "friend" plan.

The smile she gave Rufus was one she only brought out on special occasions. She had used it when Cloud had stepped into the Seventh Heaven after years of absence. Now, she was using it on Rufus and maybe even upping the wattage to be safe. "I'm sorry. Can we just have a nice meal and try to start things over for today?"

He blinked and then seemed to evaluate something in his head. It seemed to Tifa like he was slightly surprised by his own outburst. When he finally nodded and offered her his arm she bit the corner of her lip before taking it. Their forearms locked and she felt a chill all the way down her spine. He was saying things to her, but for another few minutes all she could concentrate on was their skin mingling, the way the hair on his arm was just as soft as hers, and how his skin was so much paler. The muscles were very well developed, and she wondered when he had time in his schedule to work out. . .

"Huh?" Rufus had stopped them and Tifa looked up with a vague smile. She hoped he hadn't asked her a question, and she really hoped he hadn't been aware that she had been so engrossed in his arm.

"I said, we're here. I need my arm back."

"Oh, yes." She beheld the array of foods and sat down so she could make her selections. Rather than let him get the upper hand again, this time she started the conversation. "Why are you taking such a long vacation?" He narrowed his eyes at her and Tifa felt compelled to explain. "I heard you yelling when I was in the bathroom last night." She colored when she realized how meek she sounded. The friend act was too out of character; even she thought her acting was forced. It was hard to defiantly bite into a bagel but she tried, and chewed while she waited for an answer.

"Have you ever taken power of an enormous company after your headquarters have been demolished by a ragtag group of weirdoes?" Tifa frowned as she chewed. "Then how would you know how long it should take to set everything up for prime functionality again? Besides, I can take care of as much business here as I need to. It isn't really a vacation. Just because I want to delay all those stupid ceremonies. . ."

Peaches. Tifa looked at them longingly before grabbing one from the bowl of fruit and slicing it up. She had never eaten so well as in the past day. Up until now she had survived on economical instant noodles and as many veggies as were practical in her budget. Food was heaven. "What stupid ceremonies?"

Rufus picked at his food, seemingly having lost his appetite. "The 'here comes the new boss just like the old boss' farces. People would throw confetti and shout if I were a two headed donkey. It's a waste of my time and I don't feel up to it yet."

"Sounds to me like you're just being sulky." The peach was wonderful; she closed her eyes to enjoy the sweet flavor and refocused on Rufus when she heard him coughing into his water.

"I don't need to listen to you. How could you understand?"

Tifa paused, stomach churning as she had a vision of the blood covered room she had been in when all of this began. ". . . this is about your father, isn't it?"

"What?" Rufus seemed really confused. He leaned forward on the table, tilting his head and giving her a scrutinizing glance.

"I think you don't want to take your father's place just yet. Even if you weren't all that close, he was your father. . ." She had fallen into this 'friend' act too easily. The sort of liberties she would take talking to someone she trusted were not yet appropriate, but acting had slid into mental reality too quickly. Tifa didn't even realize the waters she was paddling around in had clear warnings.

Rufus had lost all trace of the perplexity and it was as if an icy replica had taken his place. "Need I tell you again? Sephiroth did me a favor. There was no more useless being on this planet than my father."

"Just because you didn't like him doesn't mean you weren't connected. I mean, when I lost my. . ."

"Get out." Rufus rose and pointed to the elevator door.

"Hey," Tifa felt like she was right, and she didn't like that she was once again being subjected to his childish mood swings.

"I said, get out. You know where your cell is. Go back there until I have need of you." The spoiled child in him was in full force. Tifa wanted to smack him. They would never get anywhere if he threw her out as soon as she said something he didn't want to hear.

If she had to go, she was going to make a big exit. She grabbed an apple in each hand, marched over to the door, flipped him off and yelled. "This is why you could never have any real friends! As soon as someone tells you what you need to hear, as opposed to what you want to hear, you banish them as if you were some sort of king. I hope you choke on that inflated sense of self, your majesty." Then, she flipped him another rude gesture and stepped into the open elevator.

The doors closed, breaking the lock their eyes held on one another.

Then they opened again.

"I don't know the code to make this work." Tifa said through clenched teeth. Rufus smirked triumphantly, and sauntered over to push in the code. He gave her a mocking salute as the doors closed again and she glowered until she was out of sight.

So much for being his friend. Her honesty had foiled her again. She had already failed and it wasn't even the end of breakfast yet. It would probably be dissection on some metal slab by lunch.

At least her clothes were comfortable.

***

Rufus let his hand down from the salute he had sent Tifa off with and marched straight over to tip the entire contents of the table onto the expensive rug below it with a growl. He went out of his way to do everything right and she screwed him up again!

He had dressed in a way he was sure would catch her attention, and it had. When she had been dreamily staring at him on the way here he had been so pleased that he had circled them around the same hallway twice before leading them to the elevator. Except for one little incident, her company had been just what he wanted: nearly fawning. It was almost too good to be true, and then she had proven it to be with her stupid comments. . .

Why did she affect him so much? No one else could drive him to react like this. He was calm, collected, efficient, but around Tifa he didn't feel like he was any of those things. And it didn't help that the woman was so damned gorgeous! Even when she was doing something as simple as eating a peach. . . the face she had made had forced him choke his water down the wrong pipe and his palms to break out into a sweat. It had taken more self control than he was comfortable with to keep from kissing her sour face as he bent in to press the elevator code.

Disdainfully, Rufus looked down at the mess on the floor. He sighed and called for someone to come take care of it. Meanwhile, he crashed down on the couch, one arm over his face, as if he could guard himself against remembering her words.

That he missed his father was preposterous. The man had been reprehensible. He could barely run a business and it had been luck and a little bit of his devious and evil nature that had let the old fool climb to the top and stay there. The bastard didn't even have a goal other than to have power. Rufus knew better. It wasn't enough to be at the top, he needed to know he had created something to last. His father had honestly been an obstacle to this all important life goal.

Why was he justifying this? It had been something he hadn't needed to even think about fifteen minutes ago!

Surely the girl's words didn't have any lasting effect on him. Only a fool was swayed by something so shallow. He would be better off to forget about her and authorize the testing. She'd probably be a vegetable by the day after tomorrow once they started fiddling around with her brain. The initial malicious rush of glee at the prospect was followed by an even stronger rush of panic.

He almost wished that she had just gotten away with the others. Then he would never have had to deal with this.


	3. Chapter 3

"I shouldn't have thrown you out. Come upstairs with me." Tifa watched Rufus' face, her eyebrows almost meeting her hairline, and tried not to let her desire to pump for a well defined apology rule her brain just like she couldn't let her fists pummel his face. She could only assume that that's what he meant the first part as. It did not surprise her that the spoiled son of a Shinra was not in possession of a better vocabulary of supplication. As it was she thought she would sooner confront men in white lab coats than this man in a white trenchcoat, unbuttoned, with his hair messy and his eyes lined with the dark circles of someone who had lost sleep. Tifa herself was still up despite the late hour. It had been nearly a day and a half since he had thrown her out of his apartments; she had spent the time trying not to think about her fate.

Rufus, who was out of breath after having run through the halls to slam open her door and demand her presence, seemed to twitch as Tifa sat there on her bed and stared at him levelly. Her calm was a product of her general startled assessment of this situation and not any reflection of having a truly cool head, but he was so flustered that all he could do was react angrily to her.

"I shouldn't have come down here." His frosty blue eyes flashed her a hint of his usual aloof defense mechanism. He stuck hands in his pockets and wandered down the hallway, back to his apartment and his growing insanity.

Tifa watched the door swing slowly closed, but it didn't bump its resting spot hard enough to drive it closed. Not that that would have mattered, because it had been unlocked and unguarded for some time. She knew why she didn't escape, and while she still told herself it had everything to do with Cloud, sometimes—in dark moments during the past day as she passed the time—she had to admit that Rufus had crept in there too. As a curiosity surely, or as a distraction from her inevitable discovery and probable execution, but Rufus was filling her thoughts.

What really disturbed her, in these rare moments, was the way she didn't revile him as she used to feel she had to. Instead of hate there were attempts at compassion, at understanding, and more than a little guilty attraction. Even if she tried to explain it away as just being fond of blond hair and blue eyes, what she found her mind lingering on was the way he commanded a room, or the fascinating way he seemed to switch his emotions on and off with control that she had never tried to perfect in herself. Tifa prized her personal honesty, her big heart, and her loyalty. Even as she was trapped here in an impossible situation she felt compelled to help this man, her captor, who seemed so damaged.

He had just lost a parent and she wanted to empathize, but then, he was also a dick. No, no, that was her residual anger at him talking. Tifa could still be a friend to Rufus, and it didn't have to be entirely for selfish or superficial reasons. The main self serving reason that she could pinpoint at the moment was to get rid of the guilt for telling him he could never have any real friends. Thick brown hair slid forward to cover her face as shame overtook her for her hasty judgment. If nothing else, she wanted to prove herself wrong.

Tifa stood and stretched out her body from the cramped sitting position she had been in and then sprinted through the door and down the hall. Squarely, she hit her target and linked her arm into one of Rufus'. Now she was the one trying to control her breathing, and they didn't say a word as they waited for the elevator together. There was literally no one around, being the middle of the night and on a secret basement floor of the building. The intimacy of the situation was suffocating, but Tifa forced herself to hold on to his arm with his hands firmly located in the pockets if his heavy white coat.

"I'm here because I want to be, and not because you ordered me to." She told him and she saw his jaw clench but no other marked change in relation to this news.

The code he punched in for his floor was different than the one he had used before, and she didn't bother to try to memorize it as she had tried and failed to do in the past. Tifa had admitted defeat to a female a continent away, and now she knew this was where she belonged for the good of her party. Her hands tightened on Rufus' arm as she looked at the mountains through the glass and the bright glow from the Golden Saucer.

"I've never been there, you know. The Golden Saucer, I mean. There's a lot of places I suppose I never thought I'd see." Neither of them seemed to want to finish the sentence. But the unspoken words: _'And I'll never see them now'_ hung between them. Rufus turned his face to the side, away from even peripherally viewing Tifa's visage.

"It's gaudy, loud, and overpriced. The Golden Saucer wouldn't suit someone like you. The place is too fake." Rufus spoke gruffly, but his words pleased Tifa. He thought she was an authentic person, and that meant a lot to her. In fact, the vote of confidence meant more to her than she could properly express at the moment.

The door opened to reveal his apartment. Rufus shrugged off her arm and sat down on the couch, hands still in pockets, a pout on his face that made him look strangely young. He couldn't be much older than she was, Tifa thought with a start, and they might even be the same age. It was too young to be running a company and too old to be indulging in a temper tantrum.

"So did you want to talk to me or what?" She didn't move from the entrance, and crossed her arms with a scowl playing at the corners of her mouth.

"Yes. . . no. . . I don't know!" Rufus threw up his hands and pulled off of the couch to skulk over to the bar and pour himself a drink.

"Alcohol doesn't help, and I should know. . ." Tifa bit her lip before she gave away too much. Her old life didn't exist anymore and she might as well forget it.

Rufus rolled his eyes at her and finished pouring himself a rather large glass of something that looked strong and expensive to Tifa's sharp bartender eyes. He took a large swig and promptly began coughing, eyes watering. There was most of the liquid left, but she didn't want him drinking on what was no doubt an empty stomach.

This time Tifa softened her voice and tried to smile. "Want to try eating and talking again, or do you think we might be jinxed?"

"Do whatever you want. Just pick up that phone and press the 3."

Tifa looked around until she spied the phone to which Rufus had been referring. A sleepy voice answered and she shyly requested a sandwich and a jug of iced water. It was like ordering room service at a hotel and Tifa was not the sort who had allowed herself such an extravagance. Rufus was sitting on a bar style stool and swirled the liquid around in his glass with the umbrella end of one of those miniature cocktail models. Tifa sat down next to him, amused despite herself. The whole situation was surreal.

"I decided that you and I are going to spend the rest of my vacation together. There are a few days left of it, and this seems to be the most productive thing I can do right now. Maybe even the only productive thing." He picked the umbrella out and looked at its sodden mass with disgust. "If I can't figure out what's so special with you by the end of the week then. . . I'm letting you go."

Tifa felt her body petrify. She forced her lips to form around words, her heavy tongue almost not getting all the sounds quite right. "Let me go? As in, I just walk out of here?"

"Naturally not. It will look like you escaped. There will be a small investigation, some people will be moved around to different jobs then life goes on." He gave her a look as if she were stupid for not knowing how these things went.

Her own defense mechanism, her temper, flared. "Excuse me, it isn't as if I'm normally in elaborate corporate cover-ups. . ."

"What's more, you're going to stay here rather than in your 'cell'." This time when he took a deep drink from his glass he didn't cough. His throat must still be burning from the last one, she thought. It wasn't as if she could think about what he had just said. Her mind refused.

"What?"

"Are you brain damaged? You're staying here. In the bedroom to be precise, and don't give me that look like you're some sort of prim schoolmarm. . . I'll be out here on the couch." Those eyes of his which she had admired before but now wanted to gouge out with hot pokers, or even her bare hands, were not lingering on anything for very long and his unfocused look betrayed how the alcohol was flowing through his blood. The steady way in which he spoke to her gave none of that away. "If you have a problem with it then I could always just send you back down so they can hook up electrodes to you like I know some of the senior research scientists wanted. . ."

Tifa thought about spinning off of the stool, vaulting the bar, and throwing every last bottle of booze on that expensive glass shelving at his perfectly handsome and evil head. "I don't suppose I can do anything except let you bully me."

"How could you possibly be mad about this? You get a good situation, you get my protection, and unless something truly untoward happens you're guaranteed freedom."

"I can protect myself." She began to walk away from him, intent on waiting by the elevator until he gave up what was obviously insomnia and alcohol inspired madness.

His lip curled, and his fingers twirled the ice in the empty glass to make a strange clinking noise. "And I suppose you can protect Wallace and Strife too. . . and Red XIII. . ."

Arrows, each name was an arrow in her retreating back. Loyalty in this case was a chain that he could use to yank her back. How much did he know, and what did he intend to do to them? "Yes. I can protect them."

"They've been making quite the little cross country jaunt without you. A day or two ago they were at that hick chocobo farm, if I recall correctly." Was he a mean drunk, or was it just her presence that did this to him? "Why, Strife even has a tart. Skinny little thing. Don't know how she's making the march in so much monster country. And Wallace makes such a great amount of noise with that gun of his everywhere he goes that finding their group was easy. Pay off a few townsfolk, beat a few others and suddenly you can know what they ate for breakfast."

Was he spying inside of her thoughts somehow? At the moment he managed to find all of her feelings of inadequacy and pick at them until they bled. Rufus was a natural CEO. Tifa, instead of admitting anything, chose the high road for once and marched herself across the room, opened the door and walked in with a slam.

Rufus waited, a faint smile working across his face slowly. Everything was swimming in front of him but he could have sworn she. . . ah yes. The bathroom door opened and Tifa walked out, teeth gritted together and fists clenched.

"Your sandwich will be here soon, and your water. I hope you choke!" This time she opened the correct door to his bedroom and slammed it. The lack of lock didn't stop her from pushing a wardrobe in front of the door. That project took a lot of grunting and scraping across the expensive wood inlay on the floor, but Rufus could afford the damage if anyone could. As soon as she finished she huffed and sat on the bed while loud laughter filtered through the door.

"Good night to you too, Tifa!" Came the muffled voice through the door.

Tifa twisted onto her stomach and buried her face into a pillow.

***

"You can't bar yourself in that room in perpetuity!"

"Yes I can!"

"This isn't some corny fairy tale and I'm not a monster!"

"That's what you think!"

Rufus leaned against the bedroom door and continued his vigil. When he had awakened to find her still barred in his room, he dismissed it as stubborn childishness and that soon things would go the way he wanted them to. She may be holding his clean clothes hostage, but he was in possession of the bathroom and all the food and liquid resources. He was not the one trapped by this situation, but she made him feel as if he were trapped. The idea that she did it because she truly didn't like him lingered. The remark she had made about how he could never have any friends still bit at the corner of his mind even though he wasn't fishing for it.

"At least tell me why you're so mad at me. You seemed eager enough to come up here last night with me. I don't understand why you need to be so difficult now." He wondered if he sounded as petulant as he felt.

Was Tifa also leaning against the door, thinking the question over? Bribes didn't seem to work on her so reason would have to carry the day. Normally, that would have been his first course of action but nothing about his ideas about Tifa were reasonable. Damn it all, he was willing to admit it to himself that he had feelings for her, rosy colored romantic ones, and they clouded his judgment. Rufus hated this. Even if he knew these feelings were there he didn't have to admit it and he wanted to take these vacation days before he went back to life as usual and figure things out. Why did they exist there? What in Tifa caused them?

"I am mad at you because you are rude, presumptuous, and high handed. In addition, you threatened my friends and I don't appreciate that at all, you ass." She sounded like she was going to add more, but held back. Rufus was willing to lay even odds that the rest of her thought was either more swearing at him or perhaps was too closely allied to her personal mental anguish for her to add it. He wished she had added it anyway, since he wanted to know what it was that made her tick, and what it was that kept her here.

Rufus sighed. His head hurt a little bit, having not drunk enough of the water that had come with the sandwich last night. "Can we talk, then? Or is that being too presumptuous?" The snide comment was out before he even thought about and he hit his head against the door in frustration, only to screw up his face at the instant pounding pain in his temples.

"Go ahead and talk. It's your building."

He could have had someone up here hours ago to take the door off the hinges, and that thought had occurred to him more than once, but something told him that if he couldn't get her out of that room on his own then he'd never find his answers. "I thought about the things you told me. . . about my father." Rufus paused too long, waiting for her to take the bait.

"Yes? And?"

Couldn't resist, he knew it. "You were totally wrong, of course. You seemed to have this wooly notion that my father and I were close, but I've talked to my lawyers hours more than I ever spoke to my father. I was a trophy for him to parade in front of clients, and I took the absolute freedom he gave me to secure my own place in the Shinra empire. He was an excellent tool, and I regret him passing in that respect." There was banging coming from inside the room, followed by a muffled crash. It was likely that she was throwing his things around. Tifa's emotions were so close to the surface, she was so easy to manipulate.

"I'm not done yet!" Rufus called over the ruckus. "What you did have right, which I didn't see, is all the guilt I feel about the whole situation." The noises behind the door stopped. "No one should have died that day, not even my father, because Sephiroth was a mistake. Shinra should have been prepared, my father and I should have reinforced our security. . . I should have had things under control." Rufus' voice become quiet as self recrimination set in. "To elevate myself to the position of president through my folly as opposed to my success. . ." At that point he had gone too far into his own comfort zone to say more. It was one thing to tell Tifa enough of the truth to get her to come out, but she didn't need to know the whole of it. The silence went from hopeful to depressing. She might very well just stay there until she starved.

"I'm sorry I just broke your lamp."

Rufus shot mental fists of victory into the air. "It's nothing you need worry about. Everything is replaceable."

"That's not a good way of approaching life."

"So who will take responsibility if I get attached to that lamp and then it breaks? I think it leaves me in a worse position. Then I have no lamp and in addition I feel bad about it." This was actually starting to get fun. Tifa was visually distracting, and it seemed to be easier to talk when he couldn't see her face.

"If you fear a little bit of disappointment more than losing a lot of money, then you must be very shallow and very emotionally immature."

"Let me get this straight, you can say harsh things to me, but if I even suggest that we should spend time together and that gets me your eternal enmity?" He tried to make it playful sounding, but to him it was a legitimate question.

Tifa sounded flustered. "Look, I'm sorry. I don't know why I keep saying cruel things to you. No one else gets me this off balance. I really try to be a good person. I think that's what everyone is trying to be."

"Even me?"

"You. . . have hope."

And that clinched it, he had her in the corner he needed her in. Time to close this deal. "Then I'm willing to put my money where your mouth is. Prove it. Prove this to me that I'm this good person in potentia. I know I'm evil, I glory in it, but if you can convince me by some miracle that I'm a decent human being then you can walk away from me and I won't stop you."

There was that long and uncomfortable silence again. Their old friend.

"Take me to the beach." Finally she was making demands. This was the kind of thing he had come to expect from women. Give them gifts and any number of sins were forgiven, but it was strange that this was coming from Tifa. Rufus fought back a strong disappointment.

"Which resort?"

"No resorts. We're on a whole continent full of beautiful white sand beaches. There must be some patch out there that isn't covered in garbage and food vendors." Her voice strained as she spoke, and there was steady scraping as she moved whatever she had used to block the door. Rufus got up from where he was leaning on the door and stifled the gloat that tried to stretch his face into a grin. She was opening the door and it was all of her own free will.

"But I'm going to need a bathing suit, if you would be nice enough to lend me one." Tifa opened the door, clothes rumpled and hair messy. Behind her the room looked like it had been ransacked, and Rufus peeked to the side to survey the damage as Tifa shrank into herself with a blush. "Let's just get going."

***

"How could you be so very white!?" Tifa laughed and fell over her own legs into the water as Rufus stood in front of her with his arms crossed. It had taken cajoling, threats, even some modest begging, to actually get him into the water. The fruits of her efforts were before her, as Rufus walked into the waves with his arms crossed and a deep frown that proclaimed he wasn't going to let himself have any fun. His muscular body was well toned, but obviously because of careful physical training and not daily physical labor.

"Look, if you spent every early year in boarding school and then every year after that behind a desk then you would be similar to me." Rufus made a face as he adjusted to the cold water. "And which one of us is the President of the biggest company ever seen on this planet?"

"There is no rule that says you can't be a dictator _and_ take some time to appreciate nature."

"Then I'll make one." He braced his hands against waves trying to bowl him over. "Tell me why I'm doing this."

Tifa, who was not resisting the waves, bobbed in them and enjoyed the motion. "Because I wanted to see if you would." She ducked under the water when Rufus shot her a terribly poisonous look.

"That's not a good reason, I'm getting out and you're not pulling this waste of time on us again, do you understand me?" Rufus had turned and was walking back but when there was no response from Tifa, he turned around and tried to make his point more clearly. Naturally, there was no one there. He whipped his head about, trying to locate the missing girl, when he remembered her sinking into the waves. . . and not surfacing.

Something like panic squeezed his heart, but he didn't let it show on the outside. Even if he disliked the freezing water and even if it hurt his eyes more than he could imagine trying to look through the murky waves, Rufus attempted to find her. He passed where the waves broke, and scanned the deepening waters around him. No Tifa. Already his mind was creating elaborate justifications for why her disappearance or accidental death would only be a benefit to his situation. There would be no more distractions, and there would no longer be any unsettling emotions ruffling his well ordered regimen. If she wasn't there no one would ask him any bothersome questions; and he could be respected and, more importantly, feared by everyone he came across. It was going to be great.

But if it was going to be so great then why did he feel like someone took a hammer to his solar plexus?

"Tifa!" He couldn't even hear himself over the ocean noises, how the hell would she ever hear him? "Tifa!"

Visions of a funeral, fully decked out with flowers and many mourners from his company filled his mind without his bidding. They would have no idea why Rufus Shinra would be having any sort of to do for an unknown woman. There would be unsavory rumors. There would be uncomfortable questions. And he didn't even have a picture. . . just surveillance videos.

The horrors in his mind overlapped with reality when his vision of a floating body became a tangible force not twenty feet away from him. It was with numb arms that Rufus pulled himself over and then grabbed her limp form. He yelled at her, threatened any number of punishments if she died, but her eyes remained closed and her body unresponsive. In a tumble the two of them landed, swept in forcibly by the waves, and Rufus dragged her away from the water.

"Fuck! What do I do!? Don't die. I knew this was a bad idea. . . damn it you're stronger than this!" Rufus shook her body as he laid her down onto the sand. He didn't know CPR, just that it had something to do with forcing air into someone, right?

Once he had leaned in closely, to try to give this CPR thing a shot anyway, Tifa's eyes opened and her face broke into a smile which was undimmed by the scraggily strands of sandy hair covering her face. "I knew you were a good person." Her cinnamon eyes swallowed up his dilated blue ones.

Things happened quickly. At first there was the relief that she was alive. Then, swift on its heels, there was the burning anger over being tricked. They screwed up together in his mind and he blurted out. "I wish I knew CPR so when you do drown I can just stand back and watch you gurgle."

"Don't be like that. A truly bad person wouldn't have cared if I lived or died." She sat up on her elbows. "You really don't know CPR?"

Rufus had reached that cold place inside his anger and he sat with his legs crossed and stared at her. "No. And did it occur to you if you had actually had trouble then you would have been stuck with a watery grave and an uppity sense of satisfaction that I don't want you in particular to die?" Tifa smiled indulgently and he wanted to wipe that expression off of her face. "Maybe I just didn't want my project to end."

"Would you like me to teach you CPR?" Her blatant change in subject was not welcome, but it did move away from the subject of feelings as a whole and the incident and his reaction in specific so he allowed it to progress.

"Sure. Why not."

"You had the right idea. I'll lay down on my back again. Now pretend I'm not breathing. . ."

"Hah."

"Don't be like that." Tifa leaned up once more to give him a withering look before she resumed her prone position on the sand. "Now push with your hands like so right here, where I'm pointing on my chest."

Rufus tried not to let on how much this was unsettling him. Was she jerking him around even now? Touching her was something he dearly wanted to do, and even this little lesson was tantalizing him to take advantage of the situation. She had meant it to diffuse the bad feelings between them, but Rufus was getting more tense than he wanted to admit to.

He licked dry lips and tried to follow her instructions. At least he was damp from their jaunt in the sea so no sweat was bothering him, but knowing that she wouldn't think twice about how clammy his hands were was a small comfort. "Is that it?"

"Not quite." Tifa bit her lip. "Um. . . maybe we should call it a day. . ."

"No, you started this. I want to know."

"Then let me just explain. . . see you pinch the nose and create a tight seal with your lips so you can blow in. . ." Her cheeks colored.

It seemed like a good time to tease her now that she was flustered herself. "Oh? I'm not sure I know what you mean. I think you'd better demonstrate."

"Stop it! Let me up. We should go back anyway. I'm getting cold." She was going to chew through her lip at the rate she was going, worrying at it like that. It was as if he went from feeling hunted to looking at cornered prey. The way her hands gripped his arms and then pulled back as if she had been shocked. . . she felt the spark too.

Rufus, still perched above her, his hair dripping onto her chest, tried not to let his hungry feelings show through and scare her. Tifa seemed to have gotten skittish and he didn't want her running off so early in this game, not when she was the one who had made it more interesting.

"Whatever you want. Just promise me you don't have any more surprises like that last one."

"I promise. I thought it was more playful than it ended up being. . . Sorry."

***

It wasn't fair. Ever since they had gone to the beach, Rufus had gone from the awkward young man back to the suave and confident jerk she remembered. One moment of weakness and she couldn't get back the upper hand that she had momentarily gained when he thought she was going to die. It had been a sudden decision to try that prank, and he had reacted more dramatically than she could have hoped for. When she had seen how panicked Rufus had become she felt remorse, but in her attempt to alleviate her guilt and provide some useful information she had encountered something she hadn't felt in a long time.

Hormones were supposed to become more manageable in time. Then again, they had always been manageable because the object of her ever strong affection had been so far away it hadn't mattered. To find that her body wanted to respond to any man other than Cloud, and to have it be a man like Rufus. . .

It wouldn't have galled her so much if it were not for the fact that Rufus knew and was using it against her. What had seemed to be something more along the lines of a path to personal discovery when he had presented wanting to get to know her had become uncomfortably more like a path to discovering her person. This was not what she had in mind when she thought of helping Rufus Shinra or becoming his friend.

_Admit it, somewhere in there you think this is great._ Tifa stomped on the voice in her head with her mental patented big brown boots. Anything to keep it quiet. Why would she want this? She had no reason to want this! The devil in her head played advocate for Rufus while Tifa argued it down and tried to hold a decent conversation with Rufus.

Her distraction must be evident because he was giving her that look again, the one that said she had missed something he said and now he expected a response but knew whatever she said was going to be nonsense. More games. Was his whole life one long manipulation? How tiring that must be.

"Please, repeat what you just said. I guess I was wandering in my mind a bit." She shrugged her shoulders and Rufus scooted closer on the couch, prompting her to scoot back again. This was scoot number two for both of them. Tifa wanted a healthy buffer of space for conversational safety, but Rufus seemed to think that the closer they were the better they communicated.

"I said," Scoot. "I was thinking of cutting out the parade in Junon entirely. It's just another marketing ploy. We don't need more publicity. Shinra is 80 of the world's markets already."

"Maybe so," Scoot. "But you must realize that this is a celebration introducing you to everyone. So far as anyone knows, some faceless CEO just took over. This is to make people comfortable, not to get them to buy more things." Her irritation with the situation made her feel prickly. "Don't you like this kind of attention? You're vain enough."

"What makes you say that?" Scoot.

"Who else has the audacity to wear white clothes all the time?" Scoot. "It just screams 'look at me'."

Rufus smirked and shed the outer coat. "White and black are good solid colors. And people should pay attention to me. I am the President."

"But you attract a lot of attention anyway just being you."

"In what way?" Rufus' eyes were practically sparking with mirth now.

Tifa tried to think of something that wouldn't give away her disturbing buds of affection for him. "You. . . have a lot of presence. I guess, the way you give orders to people. . . it's like you can't imagine anyone would ever tell you 'no'."

"You're right. I don't expect to hear anything except what I want to hear. And only you deny me." Scoot. "Tifa, may I ask you something?"

"Yes," Big scoot. "You can ask whatever. I wonder if I actually have a choice or not in the matter."

He pretended to look wounded. When he edged forward, Tifa realized she was at the edge of the couch and she would be deposited on the floor if she scooted back any more. Rufus grabbed her hands with his own and Tifa tried not to pull away and kick him, which her alarmed and well trained instincts demanded. "I suppose I haven't done much to prove myself trustworthy. But I would be extremely happy if you would accompany me to Junon for this useless parade. I don't think I could tolerate it otherwise." Tifa looked away and Rufus got in that last punch to the gut. "If nothing else, do it for all those people you said I need to give faith to."

Tifa felt how close he was, felt his soft hands on her rough ones. He had the hands of a person who didn't do a lot of their own dirty work. That thought didn't make him seem any weaker to her, whereas before it would have been enough to gain at least a modicum of contempt. Rufus knew he had won this battle. Tifa sighed.

"Sure."

She was floored by the way his eyes lit up with sincere delight. In response, she smiled too, but when her eyes closed slightly Rufus dove in. With her hands in his, Tifa had no way to defend against the attack. Then, before she could process it, they were kissing and Tifa was leaning into it. When they broke apart, Rufus let her hands go and Tifa went tumbling off of her perch on the edge of the couch when her limp legs gave up on her.

"Wear the gold dress tomorrow, we're leaving for Junon by lunch. I need to go take care of some details, now that it's final." He didn't offer to help her up as he exited.

Tifa sat on the floor, fingers brushing her lips with stunned stiffness. It took some time for her snap out of it, for the competing voices in her head to stop internally gasping.

"What next?" She implored the coffee table. There was no raging anger over being taken advantage of. All that she felt was a pleasant buzz from the adrenaline that flooded her system.

_Spirits help me, I think I might like him. . ._

What else could go wrong with her life?


	4. Chapter 4

"Please, President Shinra, the expense of this is going far beyond the estimates that you asked me to project for you. . ." Mr. Jancy's hoarse voice was a distinctive timbre as the accountant tried to catch Rufus' attention. At the moment, Rufus seemed more intent on the contracts he was looking over for the fireworks at the closing ceremonies later.

Rufus gave Jancy a piercing glance over the piece of paper in front of him and the other man visibly quivered. "Those projections were not based on my current expectations. I of all people know you have to pay through the nose if you want quality, and this celebration is going to be big. Why else would I arrive early?"

Jancy looked nervous. It was difficult to determine what exactly the mood of their fearless leader was today. Rufus Shinra's moods had never been exactly. . . positive. They seemed to range from frigid disinterest to murderous but well contained rage. The Rufus before him today was, to put no fine term on it, happy. This was not something a Shinra was when not looking at successful quarterly reports. Jancy wanted to run away before something terrible happened to him. Rufus Shinra had finally come unhinged.

"Have the other arrangements I asked for been seen to?"

"Oh yes, sir." Jancy twisted the paper he held in his hands and he could hear it crinkle. "Is there anything else you may need?"

"I'll let you know. Take this out of my sight." Rufus tossed the papers onto the desk and Jancy moved in like a nervous mouse picking up cheese in front of a cat. With excuse to leave in hand, Jancy scurried away.

The chair was ill fitting for his form, Rufus noted as he leaned back. His father had been a much more rotund man and Rufus' slim form was practically swallowed by the thick leather. The trip over had been good. Rufus had had time to think and he had come to a conclusion about what he was going to do with Tifa. Tonight he was going to ask her to stay indefinitely. Tomorrow was his parade and he wanted her there beside him. He had reserved an entire restaurant to assure he had the privacy he needed to tell her a few things. Unfortunately, some disclosures would have to be made to clear the air before he could ask her to stay with him. Privacy was essential to making her feel comfortable with telling him and yet unbalanced by his presence. If he was lucky maybe he'd manage to get more than the chaste kisses he managed to plant on her by surprise in the past couple days after that first one. The bruise was even gone from the slap she had given during the second one. She hit surprisingly hard.

What was she doing right now? Rufus chuckled and clicked a pen as he pictured her discovering the clothes. They were hastily purchased from stores in town so it wasn't the best quality, but they would be serviceable. She was probably picking out the plainest thing among them and hiding that delectable body of hers. It was his attempt to see how delectable during the second kiss that had earned him the solid and well deserved slap. At least now he understood he had to wait for her go ahead to try that again. Waiting for things frustrated him, but in this case he was willing to wait as long as he needed to and he wasn't even internally raging at that. Tifa was more than a beautiful body to him, and that's why he would gladly delay gratification.

"Hn!" The absent fiddling with the pen had managed to discharge a lot of deep black ink onto his desk and speckled his pants and coat. "Since when was I a clumsy fool?"

Tifa's face wandered through his thoughts in conjunction with a word that he tried to deny. He wanted her to stay because he liked her presence more than any other woman he had met. Words like that one got people into trouble. What was love anyway? He had loved lots of women physically. That love faded quickly and he had not felt like he had had his balance altered when he had been around them. The things they had talked about and the things he had wanted to tell them had all been superficial and that had been perfect for him. Rufus had given in. Tifa was different, and he didn't know why, but he wanted her around more than a few days. He might need the rest of the year or longer to figure this out. Years even.

Not even the ink on his pants could wipe the smile off of his face when he thought about Tifa beside him over the next few years. It seemed right.

The button on his desk was impressed and the nasal voice of his secretary politely asked what he wished. "Bring in the mayor; I assume he's on time for our appointment. Oh yes, and could someone bring me a change of clothes?"

***

The overalls were calling her name, but Tifa resisted. The voice that demanded she rebelliously turn on Rufus at every opportunity had become a whisper in the back of her mind rather than the overt screaming force it had been. He had told her they were going out somewhere nice, but that she could dress as casually as she wished to. Then Rufus had ended his words with a caress of her cheek, his face expressionless. Tonight felt like it was marking something important and she wanted to let him know she understood.

But she also wanted to make him as uncomfortable as possible. It would be sweet revenge for the days of disturbing her with physical closeness. Her only weapon in return had been mental closeness, and she had wielded it less perfectly than he had his. It had started when they had shared a cabin on the ship. That she had managed to make him sleep on the cold metal floor each night had been a bitter sweet victory. That last night she had gone so far as to feel guilty for it. If she had set up a firm barrier and they weren't sharing blankets. . .

Tifa shook her head to clear it. That was all in the past now. That Rufus' back had made awful cracking noises at the end of the night, and the way his hair had stood out at odd angles were all stored away along with their many conversations. It was interesting today when she picked up the newspaper she had insisted on being given and found that it contained a five page spread about the old and new president of Shinra Inc. There had been no news hinting at her companions or Sephiroth, but all the papers were own by Shinra so that was not unexpected.

It was funny when she picked up the paper and did what she called 'fill in the blanks' at the end of each sentence once Rufus had left to go about his business. It had started as fun game to pass the time but it took a serious turn.

_. . . and the last President will be missed._ "Just like a chronic head cold."

_The new President, Rufus Shinra, will be welcomed in to take the mantle he had been born and bred for by his capable father._ "And the many boarding schools and nannies he had."

_Rufus, in his early twenties, is expected to bring new life and new innovative ideas to the Shinra corporation and its subsidiaries. _"As in the old president made a mess and now Rufus has to clean up after him before he can do anything on his own agenda."

_In a press release handed out by his current top aid, Mr. Desmond Trelebor, the new President said that he was confident that the transition would be smooth and the reevaluation of the company and its projects would be carried out in the next few months._ "To see who he needs to fire, I'm sure."

_The entire world is anticipating the parade to formally welcome him in which shall be broadcast live on the following stations. . . _ "Of course they anticipate it. With apprehension, with fear, with curiosity." She cut off the words she had been mumbling. They were the same feelings she carried for him to varying degrees mixed in with an unhealthy amounts of admiration and fondness. Tifa found herself noting his habits, even the way the left side of his lip curled when he thought of something distasteful, as if these subtle signals were important. She was the kind of person who wanted to be closely connected empathetically with the people she cared for, and that was one of the signs that even if she protested that Rufus had accelerated himself into that elite category. Mere days had moved him from a position of like to caring and given enough time she was afraid it would be more. Those feelings had been reserved for Cloud, but with his withdrawal from her she wondered if all that love was just trying to find the most convenient outlet.

No, that wasn't quite right. Sure it was some of it, but the way she felt when she was around Rufus was markedly different than how she felt around Cloud. Cloud had been her ideal, a dream, but Rufus was real and she wanted to pull away from him. Rufus was not Cloud, and even though Tifa had always known in her heart that she loved Cloud, at the moment she felt more closely connected to Rufus.

In light of that, she knew tonight, whatever else happened, she had to come clean and tell Rufus the truth. She was Tifa Lockhart, a bartender from a crushed section of Midgar and a terrorist who should pay for her crimes. The debt she had left for all the destruction she had done to regular people's lives was eating at her as badly as her continued lies to Rufus. Tifa would confess and Rufus would see that she wasn't special. Rufus was never interested in worthless things. This confession would determine everything.

And on that note she needed an outfit she had confidence in. The search continued anew as she threw aside the overalls.

***

Tuxedoes were not his favorite, but Rufus wanted this to be a good impression if it was possibly the last. The corporate mogul didn't often think in defeatist terms, but Tifa seemed to be running late and already visions of disaster flashed through his brain. She could have run off now that they were in Junon, or she could have had an accident on the way over, or she could have been detained by one of his many enemies. The possibilities, although not endless, were all dire to the nervous man.

In defiance to his apocalyptic visions Tifa walked in leisurely, and the long dress flowed around her. It was fitted to her body and the rust velvet brought out the strong red tones in her eyes. He was glad she had chosen something equally formal for tonight and Rufus offered his arm to her to lead her through the empty restaurant to their chosen table.

"Fashionably late, just like a society woman. Is it the dress?"

"It was the shoes. Or rather. . ." Tifa stopped and pulled the hem up of her skirt to reveal the heavy work boots she had demanded back before they set sail. "These were the only shoes I had. Some of your aids searched around frantically for an open shoe store when I got into the car and told them. I tried to tell them it was no big deal, but they seemed really scared of you and what you'd say."

"And if one of them had been standing here I would have been properly infuriated, if for nothing else but to keep up my reputation as an ogre. I could care less now that you're here."

Tifa laughed in spite of herself. "If I told anyone you were all show, they would never believe me."

Rather than let her know that she was the exception to the rule regarding his behavior, Rufus gestured to a table and they took their seats. Dinner proceeded smoothly as they talked about Junon and the parade. The food was good, but she could barely taste it. Tifa felt her heart beating so loudly in her chest that she was sure it was going to break her rib cage before dessert.

In her hands, the cloth napkin she had been pulling at finally tore with a rip that caused both of them to pause mid-meal and Tifa in particular to blush furiously. Rufus set his fork down on the plate and concentrated an unnerving stare in her direction. Having eyes that intense was criminal, she thought to herself.

"Is there something the matter? You've hardly said anything this evening."

"We haven't talked about anything." She felt exasperated with herself, but it came out as accusatory at Rufus. "All you can ever talk about is superficial things."

Rufus felt his natural stress reaction set in: nastiness. "You can complain about it, or you can do something about it. I've been holding up all the conversation, or rather, the entire monologue."

"You don't need to take that tone. I've just had something on my mind." Tifa felt hurt at his change in attitude. "But right now I don't think you're in the mood to hear it."

"You always try to make it about me, Tifa, but I think that you're too preoccupied with yourself to see what's in front of you." He was stoic, distant.

Why did he sound so resentful? Tifa threw down her torn napkin over what was left of her entrée and rose quickly from her seat. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but I think I'd rather be somewhere else right now." Her heavy footsteps carried her across the tile floor towards the exit.

Rufus went after her. Halfway across the empty restaurant he vaulted a table to block her path. "Stop. Before you storm out of here, I want you to hear me out."

"No, I want you to hear me out." Tifa jabbed him in the chest with her finger. "Because I have to confess something, and once I do you'll want me to keep moving towards that door."

Rufus crossed his arms over his chest and waited with a bland look on his face. Tifa took a cleansing breath, gathering her courage, and put aside her misgivings. They were both on edge, she could see that, and getting all clouded up in her confused emotions would not make this any easier.

"When you captured me, you made a mistake. . ."

"Oh?" His cool demeanor made Tifa feel all the more unsure about what she was going to say next.

"You see. . . that is to say. . ." _Oh spit it out girl,_ her mind chided her. "I never have been nor will be an Ancient and all this time I've been lying to you." The rest of the air in her lungs came out in a whoosh and Tifa made herself go through with her thought. "I had planned on dying in your labs or by the hands of your security officers, or whatever it took to buy my friends that much more time to accomplish what they had to. I'm only telling you the truth now because you had promised to let me go anyway, despite thinking I was the Ancient and that made me trust in. . . why are you laughing?"

"Silly little Lockhart. If you really were the Ancient, do you think I would have let you go?" Rufus uncrossed his arms and moved in closer to her, making her shiver. "I've known ever since the day we failed to have breakfast because of a mutual display of temper. It took me another day to figure out what I was going to do with you after that."

Tifa, who expected more shock than domineering condescension, was slightly put off. "And you're saying if I had been the one you tried to capture then I would have been with the scientists right now?"

"In a heartbeat." His now smiling face and lit up eyes were scaring her somewhat. "But you had to take away my easy solution and force me to deal with you. I could have thrown you to the scientists and forgotten about you if you had been that other girl."

"That's despicable."

"That's me. Only you ever thought I was a good person. I know myself too well." Rufus tilted his head to the side. "Is this thing, your lie, the reason you've been so cold to me tonight? If that's all it was then I'm glad. I expected far worse from the way you were acting."

It was a lot to take in at the moment. Rufus knew who she was. Rufus would have used her in experiments. The faith she wanted to have in him and the challenge he constantly presented to that faith were warring. How much of it was his bluster?

"Now that the air has cleared between us, I'll tell you what has been on my mind as well. Do you need to take a seat? You look like you're going to be ill." His solicitous attention only made her feel sicker at heart and she waved at him to continue. "Ah, very well. The time has come, I think, to let you go. While I shall be a man of my word and let you walk out of this place if you so choose, I would like to ask you to stay."

Tifa's mind had been wandering but her eyes locked with his sharply when his meaning filtering through her whirlpool of thoughts. "What?"

"Stay with me, Tifa. Indefinitely, and not because you're under any threat or order. I'd order you to if I thought you'd obey. I've never had to ask for anything before." Rufus looked proud but the way he was so stiff, tense to the point of shaking, told her that he was unsure. This actually mattered to him and damn it if she didn't want to give him a snap answer: yes.

But, knowing her, if she was hasty as she had been with past decisions then she would be stuck with the responsibility of it if it was a good idea or not. Starting a bar, joining AVALANCHE, Cloud. . . her life was full of impulses that had become commitments. This time she wanted to be more circumspect.

"Can I have a day to think about it?"

Rufus' body seemed to sag. "Tomorrow, before the parade, give me your answer."

"I can do that." She wasn't going to call him on that bad habit of demanding things considering that right now she was the one with all the power in this situation.

They nodded to one another and Tifa began to walk away when it occurred to her that he had done a brave thing asking her when he was still so unsure of the outcome. That he hadn't locked her up somewhere until she gave in was a sign that his thinking was heading in better directions. It was the little things that let her know she was having an impact on him. But being his conscience was not enough if that was the only reason she had to stay. This would take some thought.

Rufus was facing away from her, leaning his palms on a table and trying to let her go gracefully. Tifa tapped him on the shoulder and when he turned to face her she grabbed him by the head and pulled him forward for a kiss. Without thinking about it, her body molded against his and his arms tightened around her. The contact that she had forbidden herself to make with him up until now seemed too natural, too easy, and the sudden flood of sentiment prompted her to pull away. She had almost been ready to agree to stay with him, but she wasn't going to be swayed so easily by the clamoring cries of her body.

"See you tomorrow." She watched him wave, and knew that things would turn out the way they should. Tifa had good instincts about these things.

She left the restaurant with a smile on her face and wandered into the streets of Junon.

***

A coat, some money, just about anything would have been a good idea to take with her. As it was all she had as she wandered the cold and dark streets was the rust colored dress, her good boots, and a grim set of thoughts. It wasn't as if it was particularly frigid out, but it was definitely colder than she wanted to be dealing with at the moment. The temperature was a distraction from other more troubling problems, and she didn't even think about where she was walking as her mind vacillated between the two. Before she knew it she was facing a sleepy looking guard at the top of an elevator. When he noted her appearance he snapped to attention.

"Miss, I don't think you want to be going down to lower Junon at this time of night. There's nothin' down there."

Telling her she couldn't do something was the best way to stubbornly make her want to do it, and unthinkingly she managed to argue her way onto the elevator despite the alarmed looks she got from the guard. There was flashing lights and then a blur of motion in the shadows beyond the platform on which she stood and Tifa found herself at ground level again. It was like Midgar, she belatedly thought, with the upper level being much better cared for than the lower level. This poor fishing village was probably what the town had been before Shinra created a major port here, and a poor fishing village it had stayed. If it were anything like Midgar, it was polluted as well and nearly unlivable, but people were stubborn when it came to their homes.

"What's a lady of quality doin' down here at this time 'a night? I suggest you get back to where you belong, miss." An old man with a bundle in his arms gave her a concerned but disdainful look. Tifa recognized it because she had regarded people from the upper plates with the same mistrust back in Midgar. It was strange to be on the other side from other people's perspective.

"I don't belong anywhere and I'd rather stay here for now." Tifa offered to take his bundle for him, but he resisted, saying she'd dirty up her pretty dress. "Please let me help." Something about her lost look or the tone in which she spoke seemed to get to the man because he told her she could come with him.

While Tifa held the bundle, the old man tried to stand up a straighter and began to make casual conversation when Tifa proved to be silent for whatever reason. "Yes, my granddaughter had a close call today. Thought I'd show my thanks the only ways I can, by giving old Mrs. Graham some food since she's putting them up tonight for me. Everyone in town is grateful, and we stick with our own."

"It seems like it's hard for you all down here."

He nodded sagely. "Ever since Shinra came its been one disaster after another. Before they came we were poor, but at least we were satisfied with our lot for the most part. Now, everything is so much worse. . . never thought I'd see the day I was even poorer and dirtier than that winter thirty years ago when the catch was so bad that—oh look, here we are." Tifa's mind had been wandering. At some point, while she had been enjoying herself in Rufus' company, she had forgotten what life had been like in the squalor that the Shinra companies created. What would Rufus say if he saw this? He'd probably blame them for not doing something about it on their own, most likely. Rufus was all about people taking initiative in their lives. She had a feeling he respected her more for her involvement in a terrorist organization if for nothing else then that she had taken an active role in changing her life. If she was with him more then she could be the one to look out for the little people like this old man and his granddaughter in lower Junon and this old woman and. . . Barret?!

"Tifa!"

"Barret!"

"Tifa!"

"Aeris!"

"Tifa!"

"Er. . . Red XIII?" The animal nodded.

"Tifa!"

"Who are you?"

"I'm Yuffie, but I heard a lot about ya." The teenage girl with the oddly assorted armor smiled and came over to pat her on the back. "So you escaped from Shinra did'ja? That's great! It means one less thing we'll have ta figure out. Cloud an' Barret were bustin' their heads over it the whole time I've been with 'em."

Barret threw a friendly arm over Tifa's shoulder and led her back while the others pressed together to whisper to one another and ask the old man questions about how he had found her.

"What the hell happened to you Tifa?" Barret looked her up and down, trying to see if she was harmed in any obvious way but seemed more perplexed by her total lack of injury. "We had no idea what happened to you after you got captured. We haven' t run across another patch of Shinra until now and we were going to question someone as soon as we could, but now we don't have to worry and can go on and kick some Sephiroth ass instead. How'd you escape?"

She tried to think if there was any way she could put it that wouldn't horrify her old friend but nothing came to mind. "I haven't quite escaped yet. I have to meet someone tomorrow and then everything will be settled. No one will even come for us."

"You sure are lucky to have found someone on the inside, Tifa. Never knew you had it in you to be all sneaky like that. Good job!" He gave her an overenthusiastic clap on the back and she coughed as she tried to put some air back into her lungs. "Think your contact would know anything about Sephorith?"

"I dare say he would, but I don't think I can ask any more of him then I already have. We'll have to do that part on our own." Tifa looked around. "Where's Cloud?"

Barret's mouth split into a toothy grin. "The poor guy is passed out on the bed upstairs. And I mean really passed out. Couldn't wake him up. Probably needs some time to rest up after the day we had. Damn big monster attacked us. Some mutant or something created from Shinra pollution. I hate them so much." Tifa could see the warning signs that Barret was about to shoot off his gun and she tried to change the subject before he peppered this poor lady's house with bullet holes.

"You should go get some food and talk to that old man again. He wanted to thank you for something you did earlier today, I think." Barret, remembering the little girl, said something under his breath about Marlene and walked over.

Before he got too far away, Barret turned his head to tell Tifa, "We missed you somethin' awful. I don't know what this trip would be like without you." She waved him away with a fond smile playing on her lips and made her escape upstairs to see the sleeping Cloud.

It was dark and the stairs creaked, but that didn't bother her as she checked the rooms until she saw a distinctive spiky head in the light that shone in through the window. He was sleeping, and if Barret was right he wouldn't be getting up until morning but she made sure to close the door quietly behind her anyway. Tifa wanted to stay by his side, just for tonight, and think about what she was going to tell Rufus tomorrow. Looking at his form, she thought about what they had been through and knew in her gut that while she still loved him that a significant part of herself had already been given to Rufus Shinra.

But while Cloud needed her, Rufus wanted her.

Tifa sat down by his bed on a chair and leaned the front half of her body down on the blankets. Surely someone would come to wake her up in a while, and she didn't want to go down and talk to anyone tonight about her supposed escape. Any information she gave would only lead to her spilling out the entire story about her time with Rufus and that's the last thing she wanted. No, her escape would have to remain a mystery, and she was pretty sure her friends would allow her this grace even if they wouldn't understand why their usually open Tifa was being oddly private about something she should be ecstatic over.

This was her moment of grace, when everything had yet to be decided or realized, and she was welcomed with open arms no matter where she was. The comfort of a simple home, a warm room, and her mental exhaustion combined to set her to sleep. The answer was upon her about what she needed to do, even if she didn't much like it, and all it had taken was seeing Cloud to know that it was the right decision.

***

"Tifa." Rough hands smoothed hair back from her face and she awoke to face the Mako blue eyes that used to steal the breath from her throat. "I just had the craziest dream, and I think it might still be going on."

"It isn't a dream. I'm back." He seemed to shake off the last of his sleep and pulled his hands away from her quickly. Tifa heard music in the distance and wondered if he was right and she was dreaming too. If she were dreaming then she wouldn't have to do what she knew she had to do today.

"How?" He looked at her as she sat up and stretched out her stiff body. Sleeping slouched over half on a chair was not something that was good for her in the long run. "And why are you in that. . .?" It wasn't like Cloud to notice a change in a girl's clothing, but it was a warming thought that this dress was remarkable enough to cause even Cloud Strife to take a second look.

Music. The parade. Oh no! If they were rehearsing already or even worse if it had begun then she would have missed her deadline! She couldn't let Rufus think that she would be so callous as to end things that way. "I'll tell you some other time. I'll be in upper Junon, there's an airship I know they were working on but no one will be anywhere near it today. It's like a holiday. . . just meet me near that, ok?"

Cloud nodded dumbly and watching as Tifa dragged a hand through her messy hair and straightened out her somewhat wrinkled dress as she dashed for the door. "Tifa!" She stopped with her hand on the knob, eyes wide, as she waited. "Do you remember. . . five years ago. . . I needed to see you alone, like we are now. . . but I can't think of why. Do you know?"

A look of nostalgia, then pain crossed her face. "It's the past. Right now is more important and right now we all have jobs to do."

"You're right," Cloud gave her a rare smile and she felt her heart speed up. He still had such a strong effect on her. Tifa gave a cheery wave and ran downstairs. Yuffie and Red were at the table with Mrs. Graham and tried to call out to her as she ran past but she didn't spare a moment to explain. Cloud would have to tell them.

The man guarding the bottom of the elevator seemed to leer a little at her rumpled appearance, but he still let her through. Even in a wrinkled dress she still had enough of a regal bearing to be mistaken for that upper class she had never considered herself a part of even if she was posing as one for the moment. Once on the upper level she elbowed her way through crowds of people who seemed to materialize out of nowhere to get to where she knew the parade was going to start. She got there with minimal trouble, but the soldiers guarding here were more stubborn about not letting her get anywhere.

"I'm telling you that Rufus Shinra is expecting me, and if you make me any later than I already am then I'll have to do something about it." Tifa wasn't in a mood to make deals and she was going to do whatever she had to in her quest to talk to Rufus.

"Sorry lady, we've got our orders and I'm sure if it was that important then you'd be on the list."

"You don't have a list!"

The men near the man she was speaking to laughed. "Yeah, fancy that. It's in my mind, miss smarty pants, and you're still not on it."

"I don't have time for this." Tifa wound up a fist and let it fly. It had been a while since she had been in a position to fight for any reason, but it felt good to make her way through those guards. The tight dress had to rip in places to accommodate some of her more flexible kicks, but the material was thin enough to do so with ease and she found that after she had knocked out the first four that she was perfectly warmed up for the next four. To get out so much aggression felt healthy and she knew that she hadn't entirely lost her touch.

In the break she had between shifts of guards she would have to make a run for it. Probably she would be attacked on sight now, and that was the position that the rest of her friends were in too so it didn't matter much. Being wanted for one reason or another was something she had mentally adjusted to a long time ago.

All she needed to do was look for someone dressed all in white. . .

"Rufus!" She yelled it across the courtyard and took off sprinting to catch him. He was making quick tracks for a side door, and if he got inside she might well lose him again among the maze of rooms that made up all the buildings of Junon that she had been taken through. "Rufus Shinra!"

Like a ghost, he disappeared into the door, and Tifa burst in not a minute later. Where would she find him now? It was only minutes before the parade was to start. Of all the days she had to oversleep. . .

A hand pulled her into a closet of some sort. The smell of cleaning chemicals burned her nostrils and a chord to the light above them swung after having been viciously pulled. "You make too much noise." Rufus spoke gruffly, but he looked pleased.

"I'm sorry, but how was I to know you didn't hear me?" Tifa felt her body hum after all the exercise she had put it through. She hadn't been training regularly so she might be a tad sore the next day.

"You're lucky I'm even seeing you. No one has ever been late for an appointment with me. I should have ignored you."

Tifa moved forward to hug him. "I'm glad you didn't." Rufus stiffened and then allowed his arms to circle around her loosely.

"What happened to you? You look like you got into a train wreck."

"Nothing I couldn't handle." Tifa looked up at Rufus, forgetting everything about how this moment was wrong. If she had her way she wouldn't have been telling him this in a janitor's closet, her dress torn, her hair messy, and her body covered in bruises that were going to start smarting as soon as she gave them a thought. But this is the moment she had and she would work with it. She had learned that things never seemed to you like you planned when it came to love. Cloud had been childish pining, he had been the consequence of her need for a hero and his need to be noticed and liked. Tifa had grown beyond that. She could be her own hero, and at present what she wanted was a villain. Not that she, in her heart, thought of Rufus as truly evil. It was not the time to argue about what a change in perspective could do to a person's character. Here, at this time, they were merely two people trying to find a way to be together.

Tifa took a deep breath. "You must know that I want to stay with you more than I want anything else right now." He tightened his grip on her. "But before I can be with you, there are things I need to do. We both have responsibilities and mine start with my friends. They need me. I know that they do, and for them I am going to put aside my own desires. Please tell me you understand."

"If this. . . if I am what you really want then I don't see why anything should stop you."

Hah, Rufus not understanding why someone wouldn't get their way. Something inside of her told her she knew this would happen, and she was prepared. "If I told you to choose between me and your company, which would you choose."

That he paused at all filled Tifa with warmth. "My company."

"Then understand that while I want you, I want us, what I need to do is take care of some things first. Obligations come in more forms than monetary ones."

Rufus let her go and they pulled away, only attached by one hand which Rufus refused to let go of. "If I took care of Sephiroth. . . would that bring you back to me faster?"

"Yes."

"I see." Rufus reeled her in by the hand he still held and bent in as if he were going to kiss her but stopped short. "Then you better hope you get to him before I do. I don't like it when people stand in the way of the things I want."

"I'm not a thing."

"I know." This time when their lips met it contained more than the mutual expression of need. It was so pleasant in his arms that she didn't even mind when his hands wandered, playing with the high slit in her dress she had torn. She responded in kind by slipping her hand under his shirt and feelings his muscles jump at her touch.

They broke apart only when they heard someone frantically calling out Rufus' name. It was almost time for the parade to start, it seemed, and to have him missing would be a disaster.

"Anytime you want to see me. . . drop me a line. Telegram, phone call, message, whatever. I'll be there as soon as humanly possible, I swear it." He slipped something into her hand and pulled the light chord so that they were enveloped in darkness before he stepped out of the closet to rejoin the outside world.

Tifa waited until she couldn't hear anything except for the parade and then she stepped out of the dark closet. In the empty hallway with its flickering fluorescent lights she looked at Rufus' present.

It was a ring, but as she picked it out of its box it was followed by a long chain. He remembered how she didn't like to wear things on her hands because they got in the way when she fought. She had only mentioned it once, and she was delightfully surprised that he should remember. It was nice that he had given her something to remember him by, but she was not likely to forget. Tifa settled the chain around her neck and felt the cold weight of the ring as it normalized to her body temperature against her chest. Rufus was not such a fool that he did not know what giving her a ring obliquely promised.

Maybe someday. . .

The sharp opening notes of the parade music knocked her back to her present where she needed to run if she was going to meet her friends by the airship. They had a lot to do today and dreaming of the future was as bad as lingering on the past. Cloud had been her past and Rufus promised to be her future, but in the middle she had to deal with Sephiroth. It seemed attractive men were both a bane and blessing in her life.

With sure steps, Tifa walked back out to face the day.


	5. Epilogue

There were a lot of people admiring the scintillating view from the balcony, most of them couples. Tifa, watched as they pointed out sights or even what constellations that could be seen beyond the light pollution from the Golden Saucer. They were carefree, she noted with no little jealousy and a bit of disgust thrown in for good measure. Tifa couldn't even count on seeing her next birthday, and here were all these people enjoying themselves as if nothing worse were happening in their lives then the occasional bout of indigestion. Judging from the nice clothing and the expensive jewelry on most of the women, that might actually be a somewhat accurate assessment.

Normally Tifa would not have been this bitter, but tonight was a special night. Tonight was "Enchantment Night", and even thinking it brought a crinkle to her nose and frown to her face. Everything was free tonight, so she could have been indulging herself and her misery in something mindless, but she didn't enjoy much of anything in this place besides the chocobo racing. However, it was Cloud who was the registered one, and if she didn't have him there then she couldn't race.

She felt doubly sour when that knowledge reminded her of why she was out here in the first place: Cloud and Aeris were on a date. Tifa would be the first to admit that she hadn't been trying terribly hard to curry his favor in recent days, but this turn of events still stung. If there was any doubt left in her mind whether she should pursue her childhood dreams of settling down with the blond SOLDIER, then they were dashed by this new development. It was strange, seeing a dream crumble like that, even if it wasn't what she wanted any more. In her heart the possibility had always been there to reflect on, but now it was gone, or at least cracked beyond repair. A sentimental creature in private, Tifa wanted to get away from the hotel and all her traveling companions to contemplate her pain in peace.

_On the bright side_, her naturally optimistic brain supplied, _you can feel like less of a traitor_. Her hand clutched near her heart at the unseen item lying just below her layers of shirt. The balcony was being slowly vacated, and Tifa realized that people were probably going to attend that play which was being put on for the benefit of all the happy couples. She moved to the banister at the edge of the long drop, and looked down instead of up at the blank desert and the prison she knew lay below. No one even looked down. Why would they want to spoil the magic? Tifa felt a bit like she didn't have any magic left to be spoiled.

She had been so young and so _sure_ of Cloud. It had seemed like destiny. But then as she was lying down in her hotel room, seeing if she had any clean clothes left in the beaten pack she had dragged everywhere with her since this began back in Midgar, she heard the distinctive twang of a feminine voice in the other room and Cloud's deep responding mumble. Leaving Red XIII to whatever unpacking he needed to do in the room they would share, (it took a while when you didn't have opposable thumbs) Tifa walked out into the hall and shamelessly pressed her ear against the door to hear what was transpiring. Aeris pressured, Cloud relented, and Tifa took off down the hall and rounded a corner to hide before they could exit and discover her voyeuristic activities. They were probably at the play right now, watching the mediocre acting and sitting closer to one another than was appropriate, knowing Aeris. She was far bolder than Tifa had ever been, even when Tifa had been pretty sure that Cloud returned her affection back before that other woman imposed herself upon the group.

Inundated with self pity, Tifa had practically run out of the hotel and tried to find the highest, loneliest spot in the entire pleasure garden. This balcony was pretty high, and in another couple minutes it was going to be as lonely as she could have wished for. With a sigh she sank down and leaned hard against the railing, letting the cold metal dig into her arms.

"Damn it all. . ." How could things get any worse?

"With as many people as you travel with, I can't believe not one of them could have been persuaded to escort you." Disdainful and haughty, the voice came from behind her. There had been several people who were on the balcony without a pair, and she had noted this man's form with little to no interest previously. He had been part of the greater sweep she had made with her eyes, a mere body count. Now she realized her folly, for who else flaunted fashion conventions so much as to wear all white? It would have been tasteless, tacky even, if it weren't for the fact that he backed it with more personality and ego than his entire staff put together. It was a description that wasn't necessarily complimentary, but then few people had anything complimentary to say about Rufus Shinra when they were not in his presence.

Tifa, however, was in his presence and she still felt no remorse about abusing him. "What are you doing here? Leave me alone."

Those blue eyes of his, hard and impossible to read, narrowed as he advanced calculating steps towards her. "What is this? No welcome? Not even a smile? I think I have behaved with the utmost restraint up to and including this moment, and foolish me but I thought you might recognize that and offer me a little bit of your regard. But no. . ."

"Stop acting like an injured innocent. You're not supposed to be here, and you know it. We had a deal."

"Barely even a verbal agreement, if I recall. You couldn't possibly consider that binding. Not to mention the fact that you said nothing about me seeing you, just that we couldn't be permanently together until one or the other of us took care of Sephiroth." His voice was deceptively light, as if he were telling a humorous anecdote of some sort. Rufus had advanced forward to the point where if he laid his arms on the banister behind her then he would box her in. It was a strategically bad position, and yet she couldn't pull herself away.

"Speaking of him," Tifa said, clearing her throat to keep her voice from faltering. "Aren't you supposed to be at the Temple of the Ancients?" Rufus shrugged impassively. The man was damnably good at being unreadable, she thought with some envy.

He turned a question back on her instead. "Shouldn't you be with. . . your party?" The words were husky, and his face tilted forward so that his loose blond hair fell into his eyes. The implication was clear to her. He had had them watched for quite a long time. The way she stuck close to Cloud probably had led to him misunderstanding the situation. As if she needed to verbalize her pain. . . but it seemed as if Rufus' jealousy might run rampant if she didn't. He was as possessive as Cloud had been dismissive.

"Cloud is on a date tonight. So you see, my party is spending our forced vacation in very different ways." Her voice was bitter, but Rufus seemed to cheer up as a smile pulled at one corner of his mouth.

"So the bastard finally made a real decision. Never thought he would have it in him. Can't say he made the right choice, but I benefit from his folly so I fully approve of his stupidity." There was no love lost there, it seemed. Rufus hated Cloud since the day they had fought on the roof of Shinra HQ, and his involvement with Tifa certainly had not given him any reason to improve upon that bad opinion.

Tifa, who had been thinking something roughly similar not too long ago, sidestepped and tried to brush past Rufus rather than linger any longer on her own negative emotions. In addition, she felt suffocated by Rufus' presence. It was hard enough to be on this mission without having him tempt her into straying away for something as indulgent as personal reasons. There would be time enough later, well, assuming they both survived.

"Wait." Rufus' hand shot out, faster than she ever would have thought him capable, and caught her wrist before she could make it all the way by him. "Don't go." It was an order, not a request, and Tifa felt her temper build at such an autocratic gesture.

Before she could get anything out of her mouth Rufus turned his face up to meet her eyes again. Tifa choked on her words, floored by the emotion he allowed her to see before he went back to his sneering self. "Give me tonight Tifa."

The sense of doom she had been unsuccessfully fighting ever since the party had discussed the Temple of the Ancients in the hotel came back to her in full force. Maybe Rufus felt it too. They didn't know what would happen, or what might greet them up north besides a murderous and insane Sephiroth. Sephiroth alone should have been enough to give sane adventurers pause.

"Damn it all, Rufus," Her voice was thick with emotion. "I've thrown myself off of buildings, climbed through sewers, sped around at breakneck speed in cars while being shot at. . . and all I can think of is that those situations were not half so dangerous to my resolve as what you're asking for right now."

"You flatter me, Tifa, but you also avoid answering the question."

"I didn't realize it was a question."

Rufus lost some of his jocular expression. "Stop stalling. Are you going to spend tonight with me, or aren't you?" He leaned back on the balcony, letting his coat fall open. But all the while his casual pose belied the way his sharp eyes stabbed through her. "Strife gets his date. . . don't you want yours?"

"Promise me you won't bring him up any more tonight and I'll think about it." She snapped, although she realized that if she were really going to refuse him she would have walked back inside long ago. He probably sensed that as well and relished the game of cat and mouse they played.

"It's a yes or no question, Tifa."

Tifa looked up into the air above them and thought. At this point she knew it was probably a yes, or a no that would then be disregarded as he kidnapped her for the evening. Rufus didn't take no for an answer. As long as she did things on her own terms then maybe she wouldn't feel any worse about enjoying herself with the Shinra than she had to.

"You shall return me at a reasonable hour of the night. I get to go back to the hotel room and clean up, and you will arrange it so that there is no chance that anyone on my team will possibly see us, understood? If you can agree to all of that, then I will say yes."

Rufus looked genuine glad. "Easily done. But don't take too long. I'll be waiting for you by the gondolas. All the rest of the fools are at the play, so I doubt anyone will see us. And after that. . . you'll see."

"Twenty minutes. I'll be there." Tifa felt a smile stretch across her face despite the fact that Rufus was insufferable and Cloud was a jerk. She tried to remember if she had anything nice to wear when all of a sudden a slightly naughty and utterly wonderful thought popped into her head. Tifa knew where she was getting a dress from, and it was the only time she was mad enough at Cloud to feel entirely remorseless about rifling through his things.

***

Rufus paced back and forth in front of the waiting gondola. True enough, there was no one else around, nor would there be for another hour at least. It had been twenty-three minutes already and Tifa was still nowhere in sight. Rufus was not the sort of man who liked being kept waiting, and the poor man who ran the gondolas began to fear for himself by being in the mere vicinity of the agitated Shinra.

A part of him, a rather noticeable part actually, had hoped that these feelings that had developed would fade in the weeks that followed their separation. Finding and taking care of Sephiroth had been a personal goal of his anyway, without needing the added bonus of Tifa at the end. However, as each report came in of Strife's rag tag group he felt a nagging apprehension. What if Strife changed his mind, realized how much Tifa meant to him, and stole back the affection that Rufus was still not entirely sure he had won. Humans were fickle creatures. He knew it, he counted on it, and he hadn't often been surprised in that regard.

To leave Tifa alone was impossible for him. Rufus wanted to claim her, to brand her as his publicly, directly. But she would never stand for that, not while she had a job to do (maybe not at all), and while Rufus liked to push her buttons he was a canny enough businessman to know how far was too far to push someone. Tonight, this date was more a renewal of their sentiments. It was a reminder. To Rufus, it was the only thing he knew to do to keep himself on her mind. How basely unfair it was that she could go about her life without giving him another thought while she was there in his mind during those snatches of sleep he managed, or during long sessions of paperwork.

Rufus' fist came down with bruising force on the side of the little booth where the man took gondola tickets. The sniveling worm inside the tin can made some sort of a whimpering noise, and Rufus sneered. It felt good to put terror in a lackey. People were running around a lot these days showing too much defiance to him and the Shinra employees in general. A subdued populace would be a happy populace, but it seemed he needed to convince them of that even if force was needed. He didn't want to be a cruel ruler, simply an absolute one.

The dark nature of his thoughts abruptly shifted and lightened as he caught sight of some swinging dark hair, loose and swirling around a curvy feminine form. Rufus loved watching Tifa walk, especially in that dress. It looked a little too tight for her, but that was fine with him, since instead of those long steps she usually took that buried the grace of her movements behind an efficient marching gait she was being forced by the dress to take little steps that exaggerated the swing of her hips. The rest of it hugged her form most deliciously, and he allowed himself a leer before she got close enough to see him and therefore get mad at him for staring at her.

When she got closer he saw, with an open laugh, her boots. His old friends this age, would she never have another pair of shoes? Perhaps that would be impractical while traveling, and Tifa was nothing if not practical. Except for the fact that he spied no chain around her neck, he was put almost entirely at ease by the return of his beautiful companion.

"Sorry I took so long," she had jogged here so she huffed a little as she spoke, shaking slightly damp hair around absently. "I tried to dry my hair, but it turns out that I have more of it than I thought." He was inspecting her with an intensity that seemed to make her uncomfortable.

"I see you took my ring off." Rufus said it in an offhand manner, arching an eyebrow and smiling tightly.

Tifa looked down at her hands, running calloused fingers over one another as if she were washing them. "Actually, I thought that I could wear it for tonight on my hand since it's just us." She held out her right hand, where it rested on the ring finger as nicely as he had hoped when he had had it sized.

"You have it on the wrong hand." He kept his tone joking, light, but they both knew what he was pushing. There was no way he couldn't; Rufus hadn't gotten to where he was by stifling his demanding nature.

"I like it on this hand, thanks." Defiant, blushing, he wasn't sure if she was feeling shy about how fast their relationship had gone and would go in the future, or if she was angry again at being ordered around indirectly. Tifa was such a touchy creature when it came to free will and making decisions on her own.

Rufus shrugged, hiding his displeasure by sticking one clenched hand inside of his coat pocket, feeling blunt nails try to break the skin with their pressure. He led her to the gondola waiting, and signaled to the man who ran them. The man looked relieved that the Shinra was about to vacate his presence shortly and nodded tightly. There was sweat shining on his forehead. How someone so nervous and incompetent had gotten a job at a place like the Golden Saucer only showed Rufus how Dio's leadership here was probably sloppy. It would only be a manner if time before Rufus would buy Dio out. Or have him killed, and then buy the place out. He scratched the latter idea as he looked over at his brown haired companion. If he resorted to old Shinra tactics for hostile takeovers then he would be no better than his cursed father. Tifa expected better of him, and he expected better of himself. But still. . .the casino and resort took in too much money not to be Shinra affiliated. He would find a way.

"You look very serious."

"Here I am, with you, and I'm still thinking business." Rufus forced his thoughts to ground themselves in the present situation. "Do you like the view?"

Tifa's eyes grew warm, and lit up. Something tight inside Rufus' chest began to loosen. "It's better than I thought it would be. The Golden Saucer is much prettier on the outside than it is on the inside."

"If we did this when all the rest of the couples were taking their gondola rides, there would be fireworks." He added as a sidenote. "But lucky for us, the festivities haven't started yet, because that would have made it slightly more dangerous than I would have liked."

He stood and unbarred the door to the gondola, easily overpowering the safety mechanism. The door swung open and the wind whistled around them, forcing Tifa's hair to flap and swirl about her head. At least Tifa wouldn't have to worry about drying it the rest of the way.

"Are you crazy!" She yelled above the ruckus of wind and something else that seemed to be getting louder as she listened for it.

"Don't you trust me, my dear?" It was difficult to use a sarcastic tone effectively when one had to shout at the top of one's lungs, thought Rufus. The helicopter was placed very well, it was following the gondola without much problem, and soon they would reach a curve so it would behoove them to get out before things got much trickier. "Grab this!" Rufus shoved a strap with several loops in it at Tifa. She watched Rufus secure the loops of his own cord about each leg and around his waist and she did the same. The gondola made its turn, going about its rounds and returning to its point of origin, while Rufus and Tifa were left behind, suspended uncomfortably in the air.

The gondola operator was going to have a fit, Rufus thought, and laughed. Meanwhile, he had to deal with these straps and a slightly alarmed date right next to him. The straps chafed and his weight made circulation difficult in his legs as he rested on them awkwardly, but when Tifa latched onto his waist as they began to move forward, Rufus ceased to notice the discomfort. He might as well enjoy this while he could, since things would no doubt get unpleasant upon landing.

***

It was like he had had a house transplanted for their comfort in the middle of nowhere. In a way, she was exactly right. Inside of the large tent that they had walked into were all the amenities of a well furnished dining and living room. There was food, still steaming, on the table and lit candles guttering from the wind that swept in behind them. There were chairs, a couch, rugs. . . really it was pretty impressive. Like some tribal chieftain who traveled with a retinue. Better than the hotel, in many ways. But all she could think was the rather uncharitable: _Throw enough money around and you can have anything._

"So, Mr. I Have a Plan for Everything, what am I supposed to do about my hair?" The ride several miles away from the desert hadn't taken long to this makeshift house-in-a-tent, and her hair had made the trip only to resemble something out of a horror movie. A rat's nest would have been a vast improvement from its current condition.

Rufus hummed to himself. "It does look rather, eh, exotic at the moment, I'll admit." He left and came back shortly with that self satisfied look that told her she would have a brush in the time it took a helicopter to get to town, and a Shinra employee to harass some shopkeeper into opening his store so that a brush could be purchased. It seemed like an abuse of power, but she wanted the brush badly enough not to be quarrelsome about details at the moment. While she hated the obvious signs of privilege, he had seemed to have gone to some trouble to plan this. Her brain caught up to the thought and she frowned deeply.

"You assumed I would say yes!"

"I had thought there was more of a chance than not, yes." He discarded his coat, ran a hand through his wind tousled hair which managed to repair all the damage of the ride, much to Tifa's chagrin. It seemed unfair that he could be so collected, confident, and. . . and. . . correct!

"I don't—"

Rufus held up a hand. "Can you lecture me about my arrogance some other time? I'm sure we'll have years of it ahead of us. I asked you for tonight, and I think we can put aside our problems and enjoy ourselves this once."

With a grumble, Tifa moved to where he had gone to pull out a chair for her and wait for her to take her seat. "You always enjoy yourself anyway." He didn't argue, he merely smiled in that way that made Tifa's pulse race and pushed her chair in for her before taking his own.

"You're right. I do." He made some sort of motion with his hand, and more food was brought in. They were served and then left alone to eat. Neither one seemed to be very hungry, but Tifa picked at her food in an effort to enjoy some of the expensive dishes that Rufus' chefs had presented to them. With a clatter, Rufus practically tossed down his silverware. "Let's be honest, Tifa. And that isn't something I suggest very often, so you must know I'm sincere."

"If you're about to say something like, 'We could die at any time, and you know that couch turns into a bed. . .' then I might have to hit you. Hard. Someplace impolite."

That made him laugh, in a manner that was so real and infectious that Tifa smiled in response. It had only been half a joke, however, and he recovered quickly. "How did you know it turned into a bed?" He said with a wink, and watched her face go blank with shock. "While I'll admit the thought had crossed my mind more than once, I wanted to suggest something slightly different."

Tifa gave him a confused look. Rufus was always full of plans, self serving plans for the most part, and she always seemed to fall right into them. "Go ahead, I'm listening."

"You know that your charms are considerable." He gave her a look that she had seen before on men in the bar while she worked, the kind where she felt as if she had been undressed by their eyes, and all of them had gotten a punch that left them reeling and apologizing. Rufus only got a glare across the table. "And, unfortunately, your virtue just as insurmountable."

"I knew it! This is just a fancy way of trying to. . ."

Rufus held up a hand, and she silenced herself, letting him finish before she got more indignant. "If you'll make an honest man of me, tonight, then your virtue won't suffer and I can face whatever will greet me in the next few weeks with a clear conscience. No regrets. Maybe even more purpose."

"This is so fast." Tifa rubbed the ring, moving it around her finger in a way that broadcast her nervousness. The suggestion was surprising, to say the least. It was too much, after feeling so vulnerable and rejected just an hour earlier, to feeling wanted so overwhelmingly that she was dumbstruck. Fatalist feelings of doom about what greeted them up north, of the slippery slope upon whose rim they had been treading, complicated her decision even more. It was a mess of emotion and paralyzing uncertainty inside of her.

"It isn't about the sex, Tifa, though I admit freely I want that too."

He was serious. If he was playing this straight and really thought that things were getting ominous, then she could understand why he would go to all this trouble and insist on seeing her tonight. To him, it wasn't jumping the gun, it was taking action while there was time and opportunity to take it. It was a very Rufus kind of maneuver. Or a typically Shinra sense of opportunism. Either way, she was in a tight spot. This was not how she had pictured getting married.

"I told you I can't stop this quest I'm on. My friends are counting on me."

"I'm not asking you to abandon them."

"I barely know you."

"You know me better than anyone else on this planet, living or dead."

"We're _enemies_."

"We're just two sets of people after the same thing, but with different ideals about what it means. It would take very little to become allies, and you know it."

"It's too fast!"

"There's no more time!" Composed face flushed, his fist came down on the table with enough force to joggle the dishes. He hadn't meant to say it, what hung between them, this impending doom. They both felt uncomfortable now, and Tifa knew it was her fault. "Stop thinking up stupid reasons to say no to this. There's only one way I'll accept no for an answer."

With arms crossed over her chest, a pitiful attempt at a defense mechanism in this situation where Rufus and the fear of their mortality was everywhere around her, Tifa looked at him with soft eyes. "Oh? What way is that?"

His hand was gripping his water glass so hard she was afraid he would shatter it. Tifa thought she saw him grind his teeth a little before he plastered the smile on his face again and forced his hand to relax before he took a sip of water. "I think you know. Do you, or don't you?"

_Rufus can't even say it. I wonder if he even believes in it._ She saw the question, the deadly seriousness in his intent. _This is what he really wanted from me tonight. Not some time, or even my signature on some marriage license, he wants proof. He wants to know if I love him._ If nothing else, Tifa knew her own heart. Duty, conflicting obligations. . . she knew what she wanted but she also knew she had had to deny it so that she wouldn't be living two lives. There was no way she could lie to her friends, lead a double life among them, with her heart in one place and her body in another. She wouldn't be able to fight like that.

"You ask everything of me. You know it isn't about what I want, but what I have to do."

The deep breaths he was taking, slow and deliberate, showed her that he was fighting an inner battle intense enough that he had to fall back on something as basic as closing his eyes and counting out breaths. He had grown since she had last seen him. The Rufus of a few weeks ago would have thrown something on this table by now, a quick burst of violence and then a return to his smiling and false cheerful mask. The Rufus who faced her now was fatigued, worried, and letting his guard down in a way that made her feel honored to love such a man. For all his flaws, and there were a lot of them, she knew as she watched him that she did love him even if she didn't understand him entirely. Tifa could grasp the spoiled man-child, but there was very little of that Rufus in the Rufus before her.

"I offer you a blind eye to your quest, and aid to you and your companions should you ever be in trouble. All of them." He looked at her. "Even Strife." He spat out.

She wanted to either cry or laugh. "You can't bribe me." All at once she felt heavy, and strangely old. "Besides, you knew my answer the day you gave me the darn ring." And that was the cruel truth. She had been split since the beginning, and it did as much good to continue to ignore it as it would be to leave an infected wound untreated. "I love you, ok? As much good as that will do me, when one or the other of us might not make it out of this mess with Sephiroth."

Rufus appeared at her side while she hung her head down, intent on her misery and the knowledge that she was taking a serious step in her life, one that could leave her even emptier if things went sour on this quest. The solemn manner in which he picked up her hands and moved the ring to the finger he had told her to use at the start of the evening brought tears to her eyes which she fought against and won. She wasn't weak or blubbery, and she wasn't about to start now.

"I'm not an easy person to love, are you sure?" He wanted to hear it again? The smile tugging at his lips told her that whatever display of mood had prompted the outbursts from before, he had retreated to where she couldn't follow again. Back to being cool as ice, totally assured. What a cocky bastard he could be. And damn it all, but she did love him.

"Stop fishing for compliments and get me the paper to sign, you brought it, I assume." They smiled at one another. "And for the love of everything, get me that brush too, please."

***

He hadn't lied. The couch did in fact turn into a bed.

It took both of them, and a lot of swearing, to figure out how to get it to transform.

But it was worth the effort.

***

"How's it feel to be a Shinra?" Rufus had an arm thrown about her carelessly, but whenever she moved he would pull her back in tight. He had fought hard tonight to get her and he didn't want her to leave. It would be a long time until he could hold her like this again. But at this time the future was uncertain enough that all he felt confident in was the now.

"Not much different than before. Maybe bossier, I'm sure it will only get worse with time." He pinched her somewhere squishy and she squealed before she retaliated with a laugh.

Rufus closed his eyes and tried to imprint all of this into his mind. The scent in the air, the way her skin felt next to his, the tone in her voice, and those cinnamon eyes that searched his icy hued ones for a sign as to what he was thinking. She was years away from being able to read him, and it would be fun to tease her once this mess was over. . .

There were those thoughts of the future again. That was the Shinra for you, always scheming, looking ahead and setting up fate's dominoes to fit their desires. Sephiroth was in a position to knock it all down, and Rufus felt more certain than ever that he couldn't let that happen.

"I suppose I should take you back."

"I suppose you should." Tifa moved her body in closer, despite the fact that both of them were far too warm. That didn't matter. Discomfort was part of life, and this was more important.

They closed their eyes and began to fall asleep, content to have now and worry about the future later. She could always say that she took a walk; her team wouldn't leave without her. Rufus opened his mouth, sure of her sleeping state, ready to confess his own feelings when he stopped himself. There would be plenty of time for that later. He would save those words for after they had won and all this destruction was over. After all, timing was everything.


End file.
